Shadow Nova
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to Jet Black Phoenix. The Akihara City students finally begin a decisive stage of their lives: high school. However, shadowy forces that have been growing behind the scenes during years will make their apparition. These are a new kind of enemy, nothing like before... They are everywhere and you never know when they're going to strike and how... Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: Nerves

**Shadow Nova**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Nerves**

11:11 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 1st, 2012...

"... Netto... Will you stop pacing around the jungle gym for once and for all? You make me feel nervous."

"Sorry, Meiru. But I can't avoid it. I feel SO nervous and eager!"

"Same over here."

"Boys will be boys, huh."

"Meiru – chan, cha pretty calm despite..."

"One must not lose their cool, Yaito – chan. I hope you're not thinking of something worthless again. Or are you?"

"Geh! I ain't! I swear!"

"So be it."

"Scary, scary."

"Where's DK, anyway?"

"Dekao? In the gym pool, I believe."

"Has the water jumped out when he dived into it?"

"That irony? Lately you see to be ironic and all."

"My bad, Saito – kun. I guess it's my way of admitting I AM tense."

The usual Akihara city group of Hikari Netto, Saito, Sakurai Meiru, Ayanokouji Yaito and Hikawa Tooru (all about 16 years old) had gathered in the park next to the jungle gym: Netto was nervous and paced around it: Meiru and Yaito sat on a bench: Saito and Hikawa on another: Meiru looked dull and in the mood to pull irony: Yaito looked like she was trying not to annoy her while Saito and Hikawa didn't seem to impressed.

"What became of the 7 Deadly Sins, anyway? Netto." Meiru asked of him.

"Who?" He stopped and frowned.

"Your Ottawa cousins."

"HUH?" He and Saito frowned and looked incredulous.

"Oh come on." Hikawa and Yaito groaned.

"What. You didn't like it?" Meiru dully asked.

"No, ma'am!" They both replied.

"Will you get the point?" Netto sighed.

"Did you meant Jet – Black Phoenix?"

"Of course."

"Oi. How can a bunch of 7 Navis be our "Ottawa cousins", anyway?"

"Dunno. Maybe they smoke too much LSD?"

"Oh come on. Navis can't smoke LSD or have hallucinations."

"Who knows?"

"I KNOW!" Roll suddenly protested from Meiru's PET.

"You back from Oklahoma?"

"HUH? You sent me to take care of some errands in Internet City, not to Oklahoma!" She protested.

"Trouble, ma'am…" Glyde whispered to Yaito.

"Trouble, desu…" Ice Man whispered to Hikawa.

"Huff. Well. To answer your question… They stopped showing up altogether since late July. Guess their Boss got fed up with their idiocies and punished them." Netto shrugged.

"Ah. I see."

"What were you expecting, anyway?" Saito asked.

"That they would poop a disco party."

"HUH?" Both groaned.

"Do you think that mood will help you in any manner? Moods alone don't achieve anything!" Roll sighed and sounded tired of asking the same thing over and over again.

"Who knows?"

"I give up." She fumed.

"Well there! What moods, young Miss. Uncle Merton might help make them brighter, see…"

"Ah! Superintendent Oda! Sir!"

"Been a while, you two…"

"Oh. Superintendent Oda…"

"I've got news. Live news."

"What is it, sir?"

Superintendent Oda of the Net Police Cyber CID walked into the park while looking amused and keeping his hands on the trousers' pockets: he drew a simplistic white Link PET with his name as emblem and turned on its holographic screen.

"Shield and Arm!"

"Geh! Annoyin'! I'm gonna drill ya into dust!"

"Bring it on, Tunneling Man!"

"Nyagrasha~h!"

"Double Go-Round!"

"Sheesh!"

"Mad Roller!"

"Damn it! Too fast!"

The display showed Punk fighting against former Dark Four Heavenly Kings member Drill Man: Punk extended his arm and launched it forward while Drill Man was on his feet and trying to aim a Mega Cannon: he had to dodge sideways and thus the blast shot past Punk's left shoulder: Punk then detached his shoulder shields and made them fly towards Drill Man who jumped to dodge them but had to flip in the air at the last second when he saw them flying back at Punk: he placed them back on place and then compacted into a sphere to begin rolling around: he bounced off a building and hit Drill Man head-on.

"Speaking of the Devil…" Netto muttered.

"They wear Prada armor?" Meiru added some irony.

"Hah, hah. How funny." Saito drily laughed.

"I'm starting to get ANNOYED! FOR REAL!"

"Oh yeah? About time, man." Punk taunted back.

"Sheesh."

"Hmpf…" Someone scoffed over a radio channel Drill Man had open.

"Yikes! Lord XY!"

"Whatever. Just continue." The man fumed.

"Y-yes, my Lord! Drill Mode!"

Drill Man compacted into his drill mode and Punk suddenly compacted into the Mad Roller: he sped up and bounced off a wall so that the right needle would hit he tip of the drill: they began to push against each other in the mid-air struggle that ensued and didn't seem to be getting anywhere: both pulled out and reverted to their normal forms: Drill Man was glancing around as if looking for something.

"Intending to drop containers onto the opponents?" XY dully questioned.

"Yikes! N-no, sir."

"Prove it. Fool."

"Roger! Let's go for it! Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!"

"Same over here! Access cache memory: Mugen Vulcan!"

Both drew the Mugen Vulcan and began to shoot at each other until they ran out of rounds: both collapsed and panted yet Drill Man managed to stand up and chuckled: he seemed to be about to turn into drill mode again but his body suddenly froze in place.

"Did you forget that I am in control?" XY questioned with annoyance he didn't bother to conceal.

"Damn it." He muttered under his breath.

"Do you prefer to be a loser dog that will be deleted by some _amateur_?"

"O-of course not!" He gasped.

"Then you should be thankful I still have enough patience to bear with you and your egoistic actions. Maybe I will end sooner by turning you all into mindless puppets." XY icily threatened.

"E~H?"

"So?"

"I won't do any cheats!"

"You better do not."

"Sheesh…!" Drill Man grumbled under his breath.

"I can HEAR you. I am NOT deaf."

"I knew it…!"

"So? If you knew it then was there a point to try to hide it?"

"Grrr…! I hate thinking!"

"Then pull out your AI program and the CPU handle it." He challenged.

"Like I would do that!" Drill Man protested.

"Fine. I have had enough. Here I though this break would have been beneficial but it would seem it did not contribute to begin with. I am pulling you out. Now." XY had had more than enough.

Some black-tinted fog formed out of nowhere and began to wrap Drill Man while gaining thickness and mass: a screech rang out and the shape of a large blackish phoenix with ruby red stains for eyes formed surrounded by golden flames: a tornado ensued and countless blackish feathers spread around the area: Punk compacted while the PET's screen was filled with static and signal noise: it soon died down and returned to normal to show that Drill Man was indeed gone.

"There goes a neophyte deluded by Medusa." Meiru commented.

"How original." Yaito drily muttered.

"Do you want the full course?"

"Eh? I only complained! I'm not pulling pranks! Not fair!" She protested back.

"Now, now! What's with the mood?" Oda seriously asked.

"It happens, sir, that on Monday…" Netto began.

"…we begin _high school_…" Saito finished.

"By Merton! High school? Congratulations! And here I thought it was Middle School 4th year… Time does fly by…!" He gasped.

"Hence the tension. Sir." Hikawa summed up.

"Hum! I seem to remember I felt extremely tense as well back on my young times as well. No wonder." He distractedly rubbed his beard while recalling.

"First-timer news. I guess I must've been too absent-minded as of late or not paying attention… Blues. Did you know about it or you didn't know it either?"

"I did know, sir. I did tell you, Enzan – sama, but you barely acknowledged me in any of the 9 times I did."

"9 times? Man."

"Hey. Enzan."

"Hey. _Buruusu_."

Ijuuin Enzan calmly strolled into the scene while chatting with Blues: he looked surprised at himself when Blues told him how many times he'd ignored the news.

"I thought you meant some star's son or daughter." Enzan admitted with a sigh.

"I see, sir." Blues wasn't surprised.

"Now, now. Ijuuin – kun… You look like you haven't been thinking of anything else but competing and training." Oda told him.

"Correct, sir."

"Of running and jumping, too. Heh, heh, heh." A voice rang out from a nearby rusty speaker.

"Sieg, huh?" Enzan looked over there.

"Yo! Hound of Densanville – sama. Ya kickin' and bustin' the lot? As energetic as usual, I take it?"

"Who knows? Maybe you're sweating in fear because you know what's coming." Enzan shot back, unimpressed.

"Yikes!"

The voice suddenly died down and they heard a sigh along with some steps coming closer.

"Good morning."

"Hey. Leon. Looking forward to your 2nd year of middle school?"

"I do, Netto – san."

A young guy about 13 or 14 years old and slight over a meter and fifty tall or coming closer to a meter and sixty joined the group.

He had white messy hair plus eyes with brown irises: his face was smooth and he had a good "profile" to him: he looked slightly exasperated at something or someone.

He wore a long-sleeved green T – shirt, a black trench coat, jeans, white socks and white sneakers.

"I heard from Obihiro – kun that those guys have begun to show up again, is that right?" He asked Oda.

"Correct."

"Maybe they'll provide some distraction."

"Or maybe it'll be a sneaky trio." Meiru giggled.

"V-B-N, huh?" Hikawa wasn't surprised.

"What are they up to?"

"They did 2-3 stories during this interim. It'd seem they've got something else on mind this time around, though." Netto admitted.

"Well… I think they said they'll do some old short stories only a few pages long…" Leon recalled.

"Hum! One can look forward to Uncle Moran's nephews!" Oda suddenly grinned and seemed to feel proud of his saying.

His PET rang so he patched the call and Meijin showed up onscreen with an unusual wide grin: he suddenly began to sway his head left and right before starting jumping left and right: everyone frowned.

"What's with you, Meijin – kun?" Oda asked.

"I'm Jinmei – amas!"

"I feel some _déjà vu_ or something like that." Netto grumbled.

"Somehow, it doesn't surprise me."

"What's that, anyway?" Meiru dully asked.

"I'm sure Sieg's involved."

"Too bad! Rookie cop!" A girl's voice laughed.

"Tozukana – san of all people… Great. Just _great_." Leon grumbled.

"Youth nowadays…!" Oda fumed.

"Did ya like it, _Danna_~?"

"Hmpf. Who knows, Miss Sniper?"

"Heh! Cha are as dry as the Sahara indeed!"

"Who says that?"

"Why. Mickey does."

"Mickey~? Who's that? From some other department?" Oda was starting to get annoyed.

"Something tells me this gal's trolling us." Meiru told the others with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Huh? Who's there?"

"Someone."

"Got the feelin' I've heard cha voice before…" She sounded like she had a hunch.

"Maybe too much M&amp;F?" Meiru shrugged.

"Hmmm… Nah, it ain't the bitch. Who the heck are cha?" She asked next.

"I have no name. Just like you."

"Oi. I have a name. Tozukana, the Vile Sniper!"

"Grey Fox, huh." Saito muttered.

"Oh yeah? I thought you were the Vile Troublemaker."

"KI~H!"

"If you've got nothing intelligent to tell us, young Miss, I'm going to cut this call. Good morning." Oda sentenced.

"O-oi! I'm not…!"

Oda didn't let her finish: he fumed and drew a package of candies and picked a lemon-flavored candy: he sat on one of the benches while Meiru glared at Yaito, who gulped.

"Oh? Guilty as charged?" Meiru asked.

"Will you stop bullying Yaito? She won't do any more pranks and hasn't done any for a while." Netto sighed.

"Sakurai – san, I don't think that…" Leon began.

"Someone has to keep this Spoiled Missy on check."

"Huff." Yaito sighed.

"Will you go back to your usual cherry mood?" Netto insisted.

"And what if I don't? What'll you do?"

"Huff."

"Now, now! Stop fighting each other. It's too sad." Oda insisted.

"Oh? It'd seem that those 3 have uploaded stuff in the blog." Leon called out while checking it out.

"Fine. Maybe it helps vent off the bad mood."

"… V! Video Man!"

"B! Burner Man!"

"N! Needle Man!"

"Present… M &amp; F! Mortadelo &amp; Filemón! By Francisco Ibañez! Quick intro to the series: M &amp; F usually are agents of the TIA (CIA parody!) who cause trouble wherever they go to! It's a crazy humor comic: nobody dies onscreen and impossible and crazy stuff happens!"

"Heh. Let's see how many will meet Ms. Misfortune today." She grinned.

"Oi, oi…" Netto muttered.

"… A shorty story… "Deafness"! Note! This is before they joined the TIA, when they had their "Info Agency" AKA Detective Agency… So let's get on with it!"

"_Marchando_! "I dunno what's wrong with my ears: it's hard to listen!"… "Did you try cleansing them?"… Phone rings! "Phone! Answer it on the double!"… "Going, going…"… Note: M's got a pencil stuffed in the left ear from an attempt to cleanse them… "Say… OW! GRRR! No, sir, it wasn't the dog! Yes, yes… Writing down… OK! Boss! A black clothes guy stole a cream colored car with Alicante plate!"… "Let's go find the guy!"…" Burner Man and Video Man began to play a role each one.

"Sounds reasonable. For once." Leon ironized.

"Oh come on. Leon. It doesn't fit you." Netto sighed.

"I'm sorry. I felt like it."

"… "See that? Cream color car, Alicante plate and a black clothes driver!" … "Allow me, Boss! I've got a plan…"… M puts on the policeman disguise and blows the whistle! The driver comes down! "Look carefully! You were about to crush a necktie ant!"… "Necktie ant? Where?"… THUD! "OK! Let's give it back to the owner!"… Needle!"

"Shah, shah, shah! "My car? Nobody's stolen it."…"

"… "Huh? What do you mean? You said cream color car, Alicante plate!"…"

"… "No, wrong! I said brooch, diadem and diamond!"…" The owner corrected them.

"Oho. Spanish puns incoming?" Meiru grinned.

"It's hard to express it but… Mortadelo misheard the words "broche, diadema &amp; diamante" as "coche, crema, Alicante"… As for the black guy I think he imagined it! "Run, you moron! He's catching up!"… "See? I said that my hearing was bad and…!"..."

"… "Don't run! I'll crush you into dust!"…" Needle Man played the role of the annoyed driver.

"Next story… "Watch duty"!"

"Maybe they're as brainless as the Genome Soldiers when it comes to finding intruders?" Meiru giggled.

"You're into MGS?" Netto tried asking.

"Yeah. It's interesting."

"… "Quit reading, Boss! Work time! Jeweler Collarínez received a diamond collection and wants us to protect his house from possible thieves." … "Let's go!"… "Bache, 13… This is it!"… "Good. I'll pick a hiding spot to keep an eye out."… "Good idea! Me too! Why! A bascule! I'm going to try it. I think I've gotten a bit fatty as of late. Man! I'm super fatty by now! It's creaking!"… "CLONC! OW! CREAK! POF!"… Cover opens and F shows up with the words "77 kg" printed on his nose!"

"Heh. Not the best hiding place, I take it."

"… "How could I know that…? Stop it!"… "Sheesh! Gotta find a safer spot."… "A drum can with tar! I'll empty it and hide inside. I'll toss it inside this hollow tree to avoid dirtying anyone. Huh? You… were there? Warn me, man! I'm not a seer!"… "Huff. I'll use the can to hide."… "Man. It's raining. And lightning's falling! What a storm! One's hit the can! I wasn't inside, lucky me! B-Boss!"… "GRRR! No more! No more hiding! I'll keep an eye from the opposite side!"… SHAFFF! Car drives and splashes! "BRRR! We better stand at each side of the door."… "OK." … Watch quietly proceeds but, suddenly… The wall behind them rises!"

"What?" Hikawa frowned.

"… Shah, shah, shah! "Huff! This studio set piece IS heavy!"… "At least we had a break!"… "How funny, Boss! Turns out it was a… a…"… "BRRR! All the disgraces I had and for nothing! I'm going to set some hits you're your eyes!"… "But, Boss, I thought that… That… Help me~!"…"

"Oh boy." Yaito muttered.

"Ms. Misfortune is at work." Meiru grinned and looked pretty smug.

"Young miss…" Oda sighed in defeat.

"When she gets into those moods…" Roll sighed.

"Trouble for all." Glyde sighed.

"The nerves, the nerves…" Leon grumbled.

"Next! "Hi-flying pilot"!"

"I foresee plane trouble." Yaito muttered.

"… "Boss! Mail from Cincinnati!"… "Why! We've been invited to the International Clever Detectives Congress! Pity! Plane left this morning and there are none 'till next year…" … "Don't worry, Boss! Let's rent a two-place plane!"… "You can pilot that?"… "Of course! I've got the title I got from a mail course! Let's go! I managed to rent this one."… "Not precisely a jet engine, huh? Too narrow! Can't get in!"… "Wait, Boss! Another bit and you're in… Ok! Take off! It's not taking off! Devil!"…"

"Huh-oh…"

"Heh, heh."

"… "Do something! We're gonna crash!"… "Wait, Boss! This will do!"… He throws a TNT cartridge into the ground! BOOM! "OK! It's flying! Success!"… "Pretty brusque, no? I'm choking!"… The plane's rear has twisted! "Whoa! We spun so much… I stabilized it! You OK, Boss?"… "I'm SO DIZZY!"… "Let's turn the auto-pilot. I think it's this lever… It wasn't!"… Emergency seat expulsion! "Phew! I caught into the tail!"… "Help!"… The strength makes F slip upwards! He grabs into M! "We're gonna crash! It's falling!"… "This is nothing! I lost a peseta I had in the pocket!" They raze the ground and F opens a trench with his lower body! "OUWAH!"… "OK! We're heading straight ahead!"… "OW! OUCH!"… "Let's see if we can sit down…" … M slides into the seat head-on! "We did it! Boss! Is it nighttime? Can't see!"… "Horror! Horror!" They're heading for a restaurant!"

"… Shah, shah, shah! "It's so HOT! Waiter! Open the window: let the air rush in!"… CRASH! "Don't overdo it! I'm gonna catch a cold! What infamous service: no – one's coming!"… A customer gets to ride in the tail, chair and table included! …"

"…"M! Deploy landing gear and land!"… "Yeah, I think it's this pedal… Oh! It wasn't!"… He kicks away the front of the plane! "Waiter! When's food coming? My stomach's twisting!"… "We're falling!"… BOOM! "Call the "maître"! I wanna complain!"… "A new plane! BRRR! You're gonna pay its price!"… "I'm gonna show you how to fly!"… "I know how, I know how!"

"So the customer didn't realize anything, huh? As crazy as ever: and I knew that you can't trust M to properly do things."

"Guess that, _aniki_~…"

"Oh. Leave me alone."

"OK! "M's ideas" is next! "Boss! Explosive news! I found Jimmy "Big Club" and his hideout!"… "What! The gangster sought by all world police forces! Let's go! We'll be the first to catch the guy!"… "Yeah! I put on the hunter disguise and…! You don't like jokes, huh? Look! Mac "Gorilla" is watching over the door!"… "Hum! We gotta distract the guy."… "Gotcha! The guy's pretty stupid… Take this gum stick and…"… "Good plan, yeah! There I go! Hey! "Gorilla"! You can't do what I do with the stick!"… "Huh? What?"… "Look! You can't do it, eh?" … He hits his head with the stick!"

"Must want the big guy to hit his own head with the real one…"

"… "The "Gorilla" will hit himself with the stick and… KO!"… "See? I can do it! Hoh, hah! I did it, man!"… He hits F instead! "Looks like it didn't work, eh? I've got another idea! I dig a 17 meter deep hole… Cover it with paper… And lend a 1,000 pesetas note, Boss."… "1,000 pesetas? Fine."… "See? I place it on this side of the hole… You go to the guy and say "look, a note!" and he'll fall into it!"… "Good!"… "Why! A 1,000 pesetas note! For my private collection!"… "Hey! My note!"… "Watch out, Boss!"…"

"Falls into the trap, huh?"

"Can't think of everything, anyway…"

"… "OW!"… "Calm down! I'm getting you out!"… "What a blow! And I lost the note!"… "Don't worry! I've got a new idea!"… "Not again!"… "Don't run, this one's good! I pick a "pebble"… And place it atop the tree with this juicy pear as bait!"…."

"Why a pear?"

"…"Since the guy loves them… When he tries to catch it… It's gonna fall atop him! THUD! OHKO! Try to lure the guy!"… "Let's see, let's see… Look! There's a pear over there!"… "Pear? Where, where? Don't see it!"… "Look higher!"… "Higher? Where, where?"… "Lower!"… "Lower! Pear! Where are U?"… "Here, moron, here! Can't see it…?"… F pulls it and the rock falls on him! "Thanks! Were it not for ya I wouldn't have seen it!"… "Thanks for the help, fellow!"… "What…? Micro-Agent 0'79!"… "Yes. While you kept the guy busy I arrested Jimmy… And they gave me 20 of the big notes as reward! Heh!"… "Don't run! I'll give you some iron to improve the head! You'll see what my plans are!"… "Forget it, Boss! I eat phosphorus in any case!"…"

"Devil. Why didn't M intrude during that opening? The guy sure is slow when it comes to reacting."

"Mysteries of life sponsored by Egoist Colonel?"

"Oh come on. Campbell? You know he had his reasons!"

"But I like Meryl – chan's assessment."

"Do as you like."

"Thanks."

"Last of the day! "Secret document"!"

"About Sneaky Snake's sneaking skills?" Meiru giggled and made up another joke.

"Huff."

"Miss… It's starting to get tiresome. You could try to do something to cast away this foul air…" Oda scolded her.

"Else it looks like we're idiots who can only fight each other." Saito suddenly warned.

"E~H? Idiot? Me? No way! Like I'm gonna let anyone call me that! Fine, so be it!" She protested.

"At last." Everyone sighed in relief.

"By the way, Enzan – kun…"

"What?"

"Did the Seer of Blades visit you already?"

"HUH? Stop trolling me, Sakurai."

"Tee, heh, heh. That face, that face… Priceless!"

"Someone save my sanity." Enzan grumbled under his breath.

"So. It'd seem you don't really care about your image and reputation and all, do you?" Netto called out.

"I do! It's just that…! I need to prove I'm adult enough!"

"Nobody was questioning that, ya know…" Yaito reminded her.

"Yeah. Why don't you cool down and help ease this tension?" Roll added.

"I'm trying!"

"Fine."

"… "Must store this secret document from the Atomic Center. I'll stuff in this envelope so that it doesn't get lost… I'll be searching for a safer place… I know! Inside of a socket, under the mattress… What? The envelope's gone! Mortadelo~!"… "An old envelope? I threw it outta the window 'cause I'm cleansing…" … "You fool! It was a VERY important envelope! Gotta get it back no matter what! Horror! It fell atop the hat that Joe "Bad-cheek", the gangster, has…! Even if I ask him he won't give it back 'cause I arrested him once…"… "Got a plan, Boss! Let's go! You climb atop me and when he comes you pick it up: then we run!"… "Good!"… "Ready, Boss? It's about to come!"… "Let's open a bit so that air comes in…"… Window opens! F crashes into tree! Cop shows up! "Boss!"… "Breaking trees, huh? This is going to be expensive!"… "5,000! What a fine!"… "It's at the fence! New plan! Come ASAP! Use my fishing rod!"…"

"To fish up Koikings?" Leon tried to pull a joke to ease the air.

"Why not?" Meiru giggled.

"… "When he crosses the other side you catch the hat… and run!"… "That's it! Coming! Fishing time! Gotcha! Devil! What's this?"… The cop! "G-gendarme! 10,000! Damn it!"… "One solution left: the rope! Done: let's hide in the corner! He'll trip with the rope, fall, the hat will roll and…"… "We'll get the envelope back!"… "OW!"… THUF! "Has fallen Heh, heh! Let's be ready to get the hat! Oh no!"… "I'm off!"… "Very funny! Very funny indeed!"… "20,000 pesetas next! I'm going to give you some ideas!"…. "Calm down, man! I don't see why you worry for that envelope… It's used!"… "Idiot! What I want to get is the document inside of it!"… "The document? Say that earlier, man! Heh, heh! I was keeping it: the envelope was empty!"… "You didn't tell me! 35,000 pesetas wasted! I'm going to make you grow hair through punches!"… "But, Boss! You only talked about the envelope! I thought you wanted the stamp! Help me!"…"

"And so, our dear public, we leave it here for today! V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"Off air! See you next time… At the GS Nerds!"

"Simple stories, huh?" Netto wasn't too surprised.

"M doesn't think, as usual. If he knew there was a document there he should've thought that F wanted it."

"So, Miss… Are you going to be reasonable? Pride alone won't help you get good grades."

"He who warns a traitor is not."

"Don't tell me, Enzan – kun. Doesn't your Navi hold a high level of pride and won't admit he's got a brother?" Meiru grinned.

"Crap." Enzan muttered under his breath.

"Hmpf. That imposter is but an imposter. HMPF!" Blues folded his arms and looked annoyed at the topic.

"Blues. Behave. That's an order."

"I know, Enzan – sama. But it's an affront to my pride."

"Not that again… We've been discussing that for over 2 and a half years by now, haven't we? Why don't we put it to rest?"

"I try, Enzan – sama."

"Well. You don't seem to want to. Trying alone won't lead anywhere if you don't want to reach a peaceful conclusion to the topic." Enzan insisted with increasing exasperation.

"I admit that."

"Fine. We'll talk it another day."

"_Talk another day_, the film that'll overcome _Die Another Day_. I'm SO clever, truly!" Meiru giggled.

"Oh come on." Yaito sighed.

"Did ya know, Yaito – chan?"

"What?"

"Your forehead's sparkle can be seen at 66.6 clicks from here!"

"Not with that Mexican guy, that Alfred guy… He's so CRAZY. I prefer M &amp; F to his delusional fantasies to heal his low self-esteem." Leon groaned and slapped his forehead.

"Someone and no – one told me."

"Meiru… You just looked at the blog's archives and that's all. There's no merit to it, y'know?" Netto complained.

"You're starting to feel like another person altogether." Saito added.

"What?" She frowned.

"Think about it. Were you like that a week ago?"

"Huh… I think not…?"

"She wasn't. And I think I now know the reason… That TV series about some bossy hi-school girls… Of course, I meant that they were bossy but didn't have any sadistic tendencies… They wouldn't show that on TV, anyway… She must be looking up to them, thinking that's the way to be in hi school…" Roll fumed.

"Yikes! Don't spoil it, Roll!"

"Too late."

"Oh come on. That's fiction, Meiru – chan! Ya don't need to interpret it as if it was reality!" Yaito told her.

"Huff. Fine. I thought that alone would help me shake off the tension pretending I didn't give a cent for it but no. Fine." She sighed and sat down on the bench.

"Huh? Mail… From Meijin – kun? Hmmm… Let's see… "I am an evil, blessed and repulsive fella!"… Oh come on. Miss Sniper back at it: she never learns, does she?" Oda grumbled.

"According to Miquel… No, she doesn't. She only pretends. And the cycle repeats again and again." Netto sighed.

"Her Navi partner has tried again and again too but didn't succeed either from what Andy has told me."

"And Ms. Secretary then runs up the walls in frustration and exasperation, I take it, huh?" Oda wasn't too surprised as he pocketed the PET.

"Maybe she needs a cold shower." Meiru dully suggested.

"Maybe." Netto shrugged and didn't seem to care.

"It doesn't involve us, anyway."

"Speaking of showers and all… The other day I heard that the police appeared at the gym, in the women's changing room showers…"

"Ahem… I am a Superintendent but I only know about what my department does. What the regular police does is beyond my scope. I only know through the press, too."

"Indeed." Enzan confirmed.

"But it wouldn't surprise me if it's another case of a spy camera some pervert set up to then blackmail people." Oda calmly replied.

"Thought as much… Men…" Meiru fumed.

"Maybe it was a woman, too. And wanted everyone to think a man was doing it…" Roll warned.

"If it was a gal like Jennifer and her accomplices then that doesn't surprise me: seeing what the club did… I'll never forgive that wretched witch for what she did to me!" She brought down her right fist into the bench while forming a grimace.

The group remained silent and hung their heads down as if feeling some guilt: Meiru gasped and then sighed.

"… Sorry. I make it sound like you didn't do anything about it… You did and I don't blame you for taking that much time… No – one would think of that, anyway… Sorry."

"You needn't apologize. It's us who need to apologize." Netto calmly replied with a sigh.

"… I know, but… Oh well… Discussing over that won't lead anywhere, either, so… Let's leave it here. I'll go back home. Some piano will do good to kill off the stress. See you around."

"Bye."

Meiru stoop up and walked away: Oda sighed and the others couldn't avoid displaying guilt on their faces: nobody dared to say anything and they could hear the birds singing and the wind's sound.

"… Maybe we should go to the gym too. It could help." Netto broke the silence.

"Guess that… What'll you do, Leon?"

"Hum… I think I'll go have a stroll around the city. I need some fresh air: one can end up tired of the sea's salty smell…" Leon shrugged.

"I'm going back home… Papa will surely have me undergo another economics lesson… Glyde! Make sure the strawberry milk stock is high, will you?" Yaito rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Why not cherry milk?" Enzan joked.

"How funny, Mr. Smug Volcano!"

"Smug Volcano? I think it's a first-timer, isn't it? Blues."

"Yes, Enzan – sama. It is."

"Fine. Add it to the library of nicknames and titles."

"Roger, Enzan – sama… Currently inputting… Input complete."

"E~H? You've got that?"

"Yeah. It's fun."

"I didn't know. How curious." Oda chuckled.

"Yaito – sama: the limousine has arrived." Glyde reported.

Indeed, one of Yaito's pink limousines had shown up there and she directed a skeptical glare at Enzan before climbing in: the car departed and Enzan shrugged as he pocketed his hands.

"I'm going to the library: maybe I'll find an interesting book to read these days… Later I'm going to do some training… If those guys are getting on the move again then I don't want to appear as being rusty." Enzan told the others.

"I've been pretty quiet until now but I think I'm going to the sea: I want to feel it… I already miss it… Let's hope that the high temperatures hold a few more days so that I can have another bath… After that… _Onsen_ season begins…" Hikawa muttered while glancing at the skies.

"_Onsens_ are good to relax and let all tension go away…" Leon commented.

"Yeah. Enjoy them, Leon – kun. Bye."

"Let's meet again."

"See you."

"Good-bye."

Oda and Enzan left so Leon began to calmly walk the streets while watching his surroundings from time to time: he calmly slipped his right hand inside of the trench coat and did something before slipping it out and into his pocket: his Link PET suddenly rang and he picked it up while grumbling under his breath.

"Who is it?" He brusquely asked.

"Yo. _Ani – ue – sama_~…"

"Sieg. You again."

"Yessir. Again and again… I'll revive again, and again AND AGAIN!"

"What do you want now?" He grumbled.

"To announce that this new season's gonna be thrillin', jumpin', rushin' and excitin', or so does Texas Master say."

"Texas Master? What a load of nonsense."

"Heh, heh. It'd seem ya want to show your bad guy side too. Or I guess ya call it your serious mood. Heh. Look forward to it, fellow blessed by Reverend Felipe~…"

The call ended and Leon fumed before he pocketed the PET: he drew a couple of sunglasses from the left pocket and put them on as if wanting to hide his emotions.

_You're not going to get through my defenses, Sieg. I've been training again and again… To overcome your "pressure"… Go ahead, waste your energies and realize you don't stand a chance… Just get out of my way. I don't need to pay you back any more "favors". _

He suddenly turned around but there was no – one around: he surely decided that it was his imagination and continued yet a figure wrapped in a long white coat along with a white hood which hid their face looked on from within a tree's foliage before jumping down and running away…


	2. Chapter 2: Newcomers

**Chapter 2: Newcomers**

10:28 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 2nd…

"…rain that may fall next week's Wednesday…"

"My, my. Autumn doesn't want to wait. Doesn't it feel like it? Yuuichirou – san."

"Huh-uh… Yes, Haruka."

"… Could you please stop being glued to your PC and look at me?"

"Huh! Sorry, sorry."

"You said you took this weekend off to have some family time and you're not being too serious about it…"

"… You're right… It's just that… Huff. Well. I always think of what my father taught me…"

"What did he teach you?"

"That there's not a minute to be wasted…"

"You're taking it TOO literally."

"You're right, yet… Huff. Alright, I shut it down!"

"We could have a game of domino."

"Domino? Why not…"

Haruka had been watching the morning TV broadcast and trying to talk to Yuuichirou but he was focused on working on his laptop set on the living room's table: she sighed and tried to call for his attention: he looked up and sighed while seemingly going over the same thing over and over again: he finally brought down the cover with a sigh and leant backwards on the chair: Haruka's mood improved as she suggested they could play domino: Yuuichirou seemed to like the suggestion so Haruka stood up to go fetch the domino set.

DING DONG

"Oh my. Maybe that's Sakurai – san and she wants me to help her with a recipe." Haruka calmly headed for the door.

"Could be." Yuuichirou seemed to be fighting the temptation to open the laptop again.

"Don't be a child, Yuuichirou – san."

"I know…! Huff…"

"Oh my? Hello. Who is it?"

"Are you Hikari – san?"

"Yes, I am."

"My name is Masuyama. I moved yesterday into that nearby house: the one with the brown roof…"

"I see. You came to introduce yourself?"

"Is Hikari – hakase at home today?"

"I am."

"Ah. So you are him. I'm pleased to meet you."

Haruka opened the door and he found a man she didn't know who introduced himself as Masuyama.

Masuyama could be on his late 30s or early 40s: he was about Yuuichirou's height as well.

He had brownish hair and blue eye irises and was clean shaven.

He wore a simple brownish long-sleeved shirt, a brown leather belt, jeans and black shoes.

"I've heard about you from… your sister."

"Sister…? Shizuka!" Yuuichirou frowned and then gasped.

"Wait. Does that mean that you're…?" Haruka seemed to deduce.

"… Was her husband." He sighed.

"Was? Did she… die?"

"No. I divorced."

"… She must've been up to something. Am I right? Shizuka was always a troublesome child." Yuuichirou guessed.

"… Yes, she was. We'd been married for 13 years and, 3 weeks ago, something happened… And that was the edge."

"Please come in." Yuuichirou invited.

"Ah yes. I almost forgot! Raito. Come out and say hi already."

"… H… Hello…"

"Raito… So I have a nephew and I never knew it? Goodness. Shizuka!"

Masuyama looked at his left over the shoulder at the street and a young boy timidly walked up to him while hanging his head down.

The boy, Raito, appealed to be on his early teens: maybe he was close to a meter and sixty tall.

He had brownish smooth hair and brown eye irises: he also had reading glasses on.

He wore a simple grey sports vest and black sports trousers along with white socks and sneakers.

He appealed as being extremely shy since he didn't look at anyone at the eyes and was constantly gulping and shivering.

"… You'll have to excuse him. He's extremely timid. Even to me."

"… I see. Whatever caused you and Shizuka to divorce involved him, right? Seeing how he's in constant fear and all…"

"Yes. But I don't feel like saying it today. Maybe some other day. Excuse me, but..."

"You're free to choose the when."

"Thank you. Come in, Raito."

"… Yes, dad…"

Both stepped in and sat on the chairs of the living room: Netto and Saito then came in.

"Ah. So you're Netto and Saito, right? My formed wife decided his name based on yours."

"I see." Netto calmly replied.

"He does look alike… By the way, Papa… Why did you never tell us we had an AUNT?" Saito questioned.

"Sorry. I totally forgot about her."

"It's no wonder. Last we heard of her was 14 years ago. You weren't even 2 years old." Haruka told them.

"Was she a bad person?" Netto asked.

"Well. The root of Shizuka's behavior was my father."

"Grandpa?"

"He was an excellent scientist indeed but as a father… He wasn't up to the challenge."

"What does that mean?"

"He focused the whole of his attention on me and only me. To make of me the genius son that would continue his research and make sure to increase the pride of the family. As a consequence… Shizuka felt rejected and out of place. She tried so hard to get his attention… And failed. I tried to help her from time to time but it was hard because Dad was constantly telling me studies were what mattered: my sister could wait after I'd managed to prove I was a worthy son." He explained.

"And Grandpa never realized that ignoring her would make her reject him?" Saito asked.

"Only when he realized death was close and began to look back at his life and career was when he realized…"

"Oh."

"But it was too late: the damage was done… I heard rumors that she began to hang around with female gangs, that she'd been arrested more than once out of vandalism… But since she rejected her father she decided to use Mom's maiden name and thus she was never linked to me or Dad. She felt like she belonged to Mom's family…"

"And then?"

"She came to Dad's funeral. She said nothing and did nothing. Didn't want to start up a scandal so she behaved. Soon after that she called me one day. Her last words to me were: "I found job in Aomori. Going there. Bye."… And, over time, I began to forget her as research absorbed me… And until now… I totally forgot about her."

"I only talked to her on the funeral… Or _tried_ to. But she ignored me and Yuuichirou – san as well. I was present when she made that call but I never got to speak with her." Haruka added.

"She and I did meet in Aomori. We worked at the same computing company… I think she set her eyes on me because I was the worker type that put work before anything else… Not like other colleagues who were always eager to go partying and all on weekends… We began to date by late 1998 and married in March the 27th, 1999… Raito was born on April the 10th, 2000… Up until 2010 we were all happy and all… But soon after Raito turned 10… Things began to change… And it's eventually led to our current status… Regarding what really happened… Is not appropriate for an introduction… She did something… I found about it… And I've asked for a transfer to the Densan City satellite office… Raito has finished elementary school so he'll join Akihara Middle tomorrow…"

"Pity. We begin hi school tomorrow ourselves."

"Ah. I see. I thought you were in the 4th year by now."

"But we know a student of Akihara Middle who'll start 2nd year tomorrow: maybe we can ask him to look after you, Raito."

"… T… U…" His words were barely audible.

"Say it louder." His father scolded.

"Yes, dad… Thank… you…" He increased his voice but it was barely above a whisper.

"Poor child… He looks so afraid…" Haruka muttered.

"I'm not blaming you, sir, for what my former wife did. As you said, you were unrelated to each other." Masuyama told Yuuichirou.

He handed him a business card and Yuuichirou read it.

"Masuyama Harry is your name, I see. Oh? Ikeda Computing Inc.? What a coincidence: we've got a contract with them. They take care of updating our basic software."

"Yes, I knew. So maybe we'll cross paths from time to time. By the way, what about that student you mentioned?"

"His name is Leon. He's had a hard past but he's managed to overcome most of it. He's strong and kind. I'm sure he'll take care of Raito as his _kouhai_."

"Remember it, Raito. That Leon child will be there and will help you."

"Yes, dad…"

"Look up. If you don't want to draw bullies' attention to you then you must try to show some strength."

"Don't worry: the school is very strict with that and there are little to no bullies. If there are, teachers keep an eye on them."

"Ah. Good, good."

"We speak from experience."

"… Water… Please…?" Raito timidly asked.

"Of course."

Haruka stood up and walked into the kitchen: she served some from a jar into a glass and left it atop the table: Raito picked it and slowly sipped it.

"He's got some odd habits from time to time. Excuse him."

"Oh, we don't mind. At least he's not a work maniac like me."

"I suspect you were working even though it's a Sunday."

"Well, yes, this laptop is the total give-away." Yuuichirou chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"She did say that your hair would turn grey soon because you worked too much. But I think it was a form of scorn instead of a joke." Masuyama sighed as he explained.

"Doesn't surprise me… We never fought but it's not like she thought much of me… I never knew what she was thinking of… Having to raise herself through school and all since Mom died when she was 6 and I was 9… I forgot to say it, but she's 3 years younger than me." Yuuichirou detailed with a shrug and a sigh.

"Hey. Raito. If you want any games or _manga_ or stuff like that we can always lend you some. You only to ask us." Netto called out as if trying to cheer him up.

"… T… Thank… you…" He slowly replied.

"You needn't. Cousins help each other." Saito tried to motivate him as well.

"… Cousins…" He muttered.

"Of course: there's no rush. But, remember, Raito… If you need help then their door is always open. You can count on them." Masuyama patted his back and smiled.

"Y-yes…" He slowly replied.

He left the glass on the table and then picked a napkin to slowly cleanse it and make sure there wasn't any grease left behind.

"He can be somewhat of a cleansing maniac too. Excuse him."

"Of course. It doesn't matter. Welcome to the town."

13: 11 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oi. Who's there?"

"Me."

"Password."

"Mongolian camels!"

"OK! Here's the goods."

"Hum! I see."

"The one stolen last week was but a replica. This one's the original. We fooled the museum with another replica."

"5 million. Now. Cayman."

"Excellent! Deal. Here you have the goods."

"So. It'd seem someone wishes to have their heads added to my personal collection."

"E~H?"

"Your doom's come."

"Who the hell!"

"End Angel…"

A Heel Navi had been waiting in an alley of an Internet City somewhere when a Normal Navi came in: he told a password and the other showed him an image of what seemed to be an ancient Chinese scroll: the Navi showed the other a photo having a bank account number and they were about to close the deal when a voice rang out close by: they looked around but couldn't spot who spoke.

"Cayman man… You're being made a fool of. Use your CPU." "End Angel" called out from somewhere.

"What was that, you impudent meek rascal?" The buyer complained and grumbled.

"You're being sold a replica, man."

"No way! I sent my appraiser to appraise it!"

"And what if they offered him even higher money?"

"Hah! It's some trick. I don't fall for it."

"Well. Turns out I don't like lot like your business buddy so I'm going to do some cleansing… Hah!"

"Whah! This guy's no joke!"

"Who said I was a joke?"

The guy named End Angel suddenly dropped down from the roof of the one alley buildings to the left of both Navis.

He had a white helmet which was shaped like a swan as seen from above with the beak's upper edge running past the forehead and providing some "shade" to the face: the side edges had black painting over them and formed a trapeze-like drawing.

The sides of the helmet per se consisted on a navy blue piece of armor over a round white circle.

A blue piece of armor shaped like an inclined seat emerged from there travelled down until the base of the neck: bluish transparent shades covered the eyes: his eyes' irises were blue.

His forehead had the _kanji_ for _shuuen_ or "end" written on it using blood red coloring too.

The chest armor had the initials "EA" written in blood red color and set on the protruding upper edge of the armor which was white in color: a small depression at the middle formed the shape of the "V" letter: a blue-colored thin stripe ran across the armor to then form a vertical column aiming downwards: the small space at the SW and SE edges of the armor below the blue stripe was colored white.

Two smooth wings came out from behind the body's shoulder armors: they were built of three pieces split by thin black lines.

The first piece had a one-third-portion colored metallic gray but the rest of it had a navy blue coloring to it as it extended and ended in a diagonal angle aiming SW: the second piece was colored white instead and shared the exact length.

The third piece was shorter and about half the length of the others.

The shoulder armors were made of spheroids with a small triangle aiming downwards and protecting part of the arm from the sides.

The rest of his design was identical to the others when it came to the forearms, boots and knee protections.

His face looked like he was a teen guy and his height was over a meter and sixty, maybe closer to a seventy.

"Hah!"

He drew a sword with some runes written on its surface and a brownish hilt: the Heel Navi grumbled and drew a Long Sword.

"Outta the way, punk!"

"_Mishirushi choudai_!" (I'll cut off your neck!)

"Wha~t? Uwa~h!"

"Yea~rgh!"

"… Or so I'd like to do. How frail."

The Heel Navi had run towards End Angel and he suddenly lifted and swung the sword while using an old-fashioned _samurai_ – style expression: the sword missed the neck by inches and the Heel Navi fainted from the fear: the Normal Navi had screamed in horror thinking that the head would indeed be cut and collapsed on the ground, sitting and trying to crawl back: End Angel beat his wings and jumped over the Heel Navi to aim his blade at the other: the tip was mere inches away from the neck.

"Idiots like you stimulate shady deals like these. I hate them. Cowards who think money makes them untouchable… Money surely earned through death and agony of innocent people…"

"We'd prefer if you kept your anger under control, mind you."

"Ah. Blues. Aren't you a bit slow today?"

"My bad. Some super hacker wannabe sabotaged the roads but forgot we can use Dash Condors to fly."

Blues rushed into the scene as End Angel lowered the sword and stepped asides to let Blues handle it.

"Net Police Cyber CID! You, the fainted rascal. You're under arrest for illegal sale of forgeries. And you, the coward…"

"W-what? I'm the victim!"

"…you've got hidden money you didn't report to the Treasury. Thus, you're under arrest too. Guys!"

"Roger, sir!"

8 Police Navis rushed in and quickly cuffed both Navis to then make them come inside of a transport: End Angel sighed while Blues remained silent as if to let End Angel cool it.

"So… Those "ghosts" are back for more?"

"Yeah. But something tells me they've learnt nothing."

"Hah! If they're like that Dullahan idiot then it's no surprise. The idiot never learnt."

"Where did you get that from, though? The wording." Enzan asked with some curiosity.

"I was looking at _samurai_ movies and I spotted that. I thought it would be useful as a psychological weapon and Kisei told me how to spell it like."

"Kisei?"

"Ruthless Vine."

"Ah. Fine. It's just that we know only a few of you guys' real names: not like we need to know them, anyway."

"Yeah. The Prince seems to be in a better mood insofar and the idiots have more or less behaved or tried to be quiet so as to not to stir up his anger. Oh well. Time go back. See you."

End Angel formed a "distortion" of the air followed by a black "hole": he stepped inside and the effect vanished while Blues rushed off.

"Better go report…"

Enzan walked away from the spot he'd connected to the Cyber World but didn't spot the white figure of the other day looking on from atop a nearby roof: Enzan stopped on his tracks and quickly turned around to look there but didn't see anyone: he shrugged and headed off.

_Paranoia. Or maybe it was one of the idiots. Whatever._

"By the way, Enzan – sama. Spam is getting outrageous, sir."

"What's the newest scam attempt?"

"They sell "mojitos" for only 150 Z."

"Yeah. Like they'd be that cheap."

"Indeed, sir. But there's always someone who falls for it." Blues added with a shrug.

"I know."

"Ijuuin – kun? Are you coming back?" Oda asked.

"Ah! Superintendent, sir. Yes, I'm heading back."

"Good. By the way… Did you send me a mail about _mojitos_?"

"No, sir. It's a new form of scam that Blues and I were discussing."

"Thought as much. Oh well. To the spam folder it goes." Oda calmly replied as he handled the matter.

"Someone will soon announce on a social network that it's a hoax: maybe there'll be a 2ch thread about it. Let's see if it overcomes 1000 replies."

"Sounds like something to look forward to, sir."

16:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hra~h! Go forth, my servants!"

"Run for it!"

"It's an attack!"

"Someone call the Net Police!"

"Run, you fools! Let's see if any real war horses will come challenge me in this field bonus area!"

"Field bonus? Too much inspiration as of late, I take it? Citizen. Well? What will be the answer?"

"Huh! I meant… Come! My foes!"

"It would be best for you not to think you have further power than what you really have. Delusions like that have led to countless downfalls across history."

"R-roger, Lord XY!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! At last! Some diehard rascal's come! My heart's on fire, babe! Let's brawl!"

"You're Golden Star..."

"Yeah! Name's Napalm Man!"

"Hmpf. I'm Flash Man! Jet Black Phoenix!"

Flash Man had suddenly burst into a small power plant in the Cyber World along with 6 Killer Eyes: the staff ran for it and he began to gloat until XY calmly intervened over the radio: his cocky mood was gone the next second and he seemingly began to act carefully: Napalm Man then rushed into the scene.

"Knew that! Brawl!"

"Go, my servants!"

"Hah! Napalm Bomb!"

Napalm Man shot a bomb from his forehead's gun barrel and it hit the floor, setting it on flames and creating a circle of burning napalm around Flash Man and the Killer Eyes: Flash Man was far from impressed.

"Fool! Neon Light!" Flash Man formed two white spheres of electricity on his hands.

He shot both of them at Napalm Man and he jumped at the last second to avoid them: the Killer Eyes suddenly attacked him.

"Uack!"

"Hah, hah! Shining Grand Crusher!"

Flash Man built up energy and shot eight streams of white energy towards Napalm Man and they hit him: he collapsed into the ground, groaning, and Flash Man laughed.

"Heh! That hurt, yeah… But not enough to stop me! Fire Bomb!"

His arm-guns shot a couple of bombs which hit Flash Man's waist and set them on fire apart from piercing through some of the armor: Flash Man growled and jumped to then roll across the ground to put them off: he drew his blades and Napalm Man jumped backwards to dodge as he crossed them in the shape of an "X".

"Slow!"

"Shit!"

"Vulcan Gun!"

A copy of his arm-mounted gun having an axis and a half-dome base formed and began to shoot several rounds in a rush which bounced off Flash Man's body yet some did get to inflict wounds: Napalm Man narrowed his eyes as if he was trying to analyze the situation as he dodged further incoming attacks.

"Heh. I see. A 3-layered armor… Each layer is 33% thicker than the one before it… I'm not a gun-lovin' rascal: I know how to see how strong the enemy is! Been trainin'!" He concluded aloud.

"Hmpf. So it'd seem." Flash Man wasn't surprised.

"Got further in store! Napalm Bomb!"

He shot a bomb which latched into Flash Man's chest and it detonated, covering him in napalm, which quickly caught fire: the outer armor began to crack and shatter to reveal the middle armor, using a darker shade of blue.

"50 shades of blue!" He laughed at his own joke.

"Dunno what that is!" He growled.

"It would seem he does not know the context either. Maybe it is being overused out of its original context." XY drily muttered as a comment.

"I s-see! R-roger! Shining Grand Crusher!"

"Cache memory! Program Advance! Giga Cannon!"

Napalm Man formed the Giga Cannon (this version he formed used a tripod as a base) and it quickly loaded up: it shot towards Flash Man but the Killer Eyes suddenly formed a ring of electricity with six electrical streams drawing an "X" with a line crossing across it: the attack bounced off it and Napalm Man gasped as he side-stepped to dodge it at the last second: the blast continued after it destroyed the cannon and the Killer Eyes formed another electrical stopper in the wall it was going to hit: Napalm Man dodged but then the Shining Grand Crusher caught up to him followed by the bounced off Giga Cannon blast.

"UGRA~H!" He roared as an explosion ensued.

"I did it!"

"Hah, hah… That's what ya think… Copy Damage!"

"NO WAY! UGRO~H!"

The program "Copy Damage" hacked its way into Flash Man and quickly reduced its HP to the same amount Napalm Man had left: Flash Man collapsed on his knees, groaning, and so did Napalm Man, who was panting.

"Hmmm… While your strategy _did _work… I still feel like that not giving the opponent a chance to counter the Shining Grand Crusher is unfair. I am not fond of "combos". You can keep the electrical stopper but no more "combos"." XY settled.

"Roger, sir!" He eagerly replied.

"It would seem this is a draw. Is it not, Napalm Man?"

"Yeah, _Danna_… What thrill and fear and nerves! This made my day: I missed something excitin' that makes my blood boil!" He laughed.

"Net Navis do not have blood."

"It's a sayin', _Danna_! Ya needn't be so literal!"

"So it would seem. Farewell."

The "phoenix" phenomenon was triggered and Flash Man vanished without a trace: Napalm Man chuckled and stood up.

"Yo! Golden Leon! Whatcha think?"

"TOO close." Leon sighed.

"Don't worry! I'm a diehard rascal!"

"So it'd seem but it's not good to push it. Plug Out." Leon ordered.

"Oh yeah!"

Napalm Man returned to the PET through a VPN tunnel and stretched once he was inside of it.

"I need some old-school M&amp;F! What about ya?"

"I'll try." He dully replied.

"Heh! DL complete!"

"V! B! N! On Air!" The 3 Navis announced.

"Video Man on the mike!"

"Burner Man on the dial!"

"Needle Man on the mixer!"

"It's the MDM! Masters of Disastrous Madness!" They all laughed.

"HOW ORIGINAL." Leon muttered with some annoyance.

"… "Cleansing day"! ... "I'm going to try being a hairdresser! You never know, maybe one day this agency gets busted and so… Let's go! Brush time!"… M was about to practice with a bust when F comes in and picks it to check it out: so he gets his lower face filled with foam! "Very funny! Truly!"… "B-Boss! I…"… "The office's so dirty and you're being a ruffian!"… "Alright, alright…!"… "Archive the reports, mop the floor, broom… GET TO WORK!"… "R-roger!"… "I'm going to pick up the copy of the "Firecrackers PEF Inc." report… It's fallen into the drawer! Almost there…!"… "BRRR! Very bossy and he leaves drawers open! I'm always closing the archive!"… Kicks the drawer close and F breaks through the wall behind!"

"Man. That drawer gotta be huge if an adult fits in." Leon sighed.

"… "GRRR! Gonna CRUSH 'IM!"… "Let's go, water and soap… Having to mop the floor… And he slides around like a BRAT! I feel so DISGUSTED!"… BOOM! He stepped on the soap bar M forgot on the ground and crashed into the wall opening a hole! "Whoa! What's this hole? If Boss sees it he'll blame me. Better cover it before he starts barking. I even need to do the mason role! What a life! OK! Let's keep on!"… F kicks on and manages to make the bricks jump off! "I'm FED UP! Gonna shave his head with a lime! 7-sized lime! Here he comes! I'm gonna hide! When he walks in front of me gonna jump at him and…!"… "There's no room for these papers: all's full! Will leave them atop the filling cabinet… Done!"… He pushes an alcohol bottle and it hits F's head while landing on his right hand: he steps out and looks drunk! "Huh? Drinking at worktime? Aren't ya ashamed? Ya force me to work and ya drink! Boss! What's with this look? Ain't I right? Don't look at me like that!"… "You're gonna earn invalidity pension, I swear!"… "But, Boss… I have enough with my low salary! Help me!"…"

"Well. M did do the job but F suffered the consequences of the guy's actions…" Leon wasn't surprised.

"Heh, heh!"

"… "A goat in the office!"… "Going to prepare the reports on… Devil! What's this? Ow! A goat! In my office!"… "Boss! Mister Dollarini on the phone! Boss!"… "BRRR! Outta here, you mad goat! Outta here!"… "How dare you! You'll hear from me! I'll report you!"… "It's Mister Dollarini, Boss!"… "What! Excuse me, sir! I am sorry, the goat… He cut!"… "You know "Vicenta", Boss? They sent her from the village!"… "Brrr! That thing's yours? I lost my best client because of it! Outta my sigh!"… "OK, OK… I'll cover it with this cloth to hide it…"… "Hello! I'm Mister Petrolini, tell your Boss to come!"… "OK! Mister Petrolini, Boss!"… "What? The fuel "King"! Going!"… "What an odd armchair! This modern furniture… I'll sit down while he comes. Whoa! But what…?"… BE~H! THUD! "Come, Mister Petrolini!"… CRONCH! "Devil! The goat!"… "What does this mean? What mockery!"… "Told you to remove it from my sight! If I catch you…!"… "But, Boss… I'll lock in on the drawer so that it doesn't stir up trouble…"… "I bring this critical document about Project X-57 so that you keep it"… "Yes, sir… I'll attach it to your file and lock it on the safe!"… "The blow from that thing still aches!"… "Don't worry, it's been removed… Nothing to fear!"… It jumps out the drawer and hits the client! "OW! OUWAH!"…"

"M…! He could've put it somewhere where nowhere would get in, couldn't the guy? It's obvious F was gonna access the drawers!"

"Village fellas!"

"Oh come on. Quit with the _Biohazard_ 4 jokes."

"… "What did I say?"… "I'm going to hide it!"… "It's nothing, I…"… "If that thing attacks me again…!"…"Calm down! It's gone! I'm gonna store it on the safe and…!"… MUNCH! "Ah!"… "No!"… Munch, munch! "The document's been eaten!"… "Horror!"… "Vicenta! But I locked you on the safe!"… "That document was worth millions! I'm GONNA GRIND YOU TO DUST!"… "I'm going to give you goat!"… "Don't bother, got one! Run, Vicenta!"…"

"Sheesh. The safe's always accessed too! Lock it on an unused room with key! What a mess you started up!" Leon groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Revenge of the village!"

"Sheesh."

"… "The bank's plans"… "Boss! Cool news! I heard that Mac "Monkey Feet" got the bank's plans!"… "Devil! He must intend to rob it! We gotta avoid it so let's go!"… "Look, Boss! There he has the bag!"… "How to steal it?"… "I'll use my worm disguise!"… THUD! THUD! THUD! "Huh? Devil!"… M used it to approach unseen and used a steel piece to restrain the right foot by sinking it with a hammer! "Gotcha!"… "THIEVES!"… "Got it, Boss!"…"Good job!"…CLONC! CRONCH! "A~H! Help me!"… "My bag! I'll show you yet! Gotcha!"… He managed to tear the concrete block from the ground and caught up to F! "It failed… How about my ghost disguise?"… "Disguise?"… "You scare him, he'll drop the bag and you pick it and run!"… "Good! This time I'll win! U~H!"… "Man! How lucky! I can practice boxing!"… Picks the cloth by the tails, hangs it from a tree branch and punches the face! "It failed… Pick your teeth and let's do something else. The 1,000 note and the glue trick! When he tries to climb to get it his hands will get stuck and you can rob it."… "… OK…"… "A "bed cloth"! Let's get it!"… "Gotcha!"… "The bag! I'm stuck!"… "GLGLGL!"… "Guess why they call "Monkey Feet"?"… BLOM! He took of his left foot's sock and shoe and used it to grip his neck and pull him back while hitting the floor!"

"So he can use his feet, huh? Seems to be the capable type."

"The Ble – pa – ca!"

"Sheesh."

"… "Failure again…!"… "Sheesh. Allow me, allow me!"… GRRR! A large bear shows up! "Ah!"… The chest opens, M jumps out as a frog and picks the bag since he'd let go of it! "Devil!"… "Mine!"… "My bag! My bag!"… He then puts on runner clothes and runs off! "Try to catch me! Here it is, Boss!"… "Good! Let's see the bank's plans… By all the… What's this?"… "Bank plans: seat, legs… Stick the legs under the seat… And sit on it."…"

"That sounds like a stool!" Leon frowned.

"Oho?"

"Spanish pun incoming!"

"I knew it…" He groaned.

"… "Banco" can mean "bank," "bench" or "stool"!"

"… "BRRR! Almost turned into mincemeat over a damned stool… I'll give you "bank"!"… "But, Boss, I heard that… Help!"…"

"Man."

"Heh, heh!"

"… Day's last! "A nap"! "I'm so beaten! I didn't sleep yesterday! Let's see if I can have a nap on the office. Aha! Gonna have a 4 four nap in this sofa and…! OUWAH!"… "Boss… Did you see a bunch of pushpins I had on my hands?"… "THESE?"… "Yes! But why did you…? Whoa! He looks like he's not in the best of moods! Oh! I forgot to thank him for finding them… I better tell him or he'll get annoyed."… "Let's see if I can nap…"… He jumps backwards towards the armchair but M opens the door and kicks it away so he hits the floor! "Boss, thanks for… What were you doing? Acrobatics? Whoa! He sure is pissed off today!"… "I'll lock the door so that the idiot doesn't come in! I think I can finally nap!"… He places a bust in front of the door to hold it too. And falls asleep. "I'll go archive the files. Why: the office door is locked. I'll use a lock pick to noiselessly open it."… The bust falls atop F's head! "Aha! It's open! Boss! You were there? What's with that face color? What a brute! Have some tea!" … "I'll use the pneumatic mattress: more comfortable!"… "While Boss naps I'm gonna play with this clockwork car I bought for my nephew. Cute! It runs!"…"

"Trouble…" Leon sighed.

"Double!"

"Its needle hits the mattress and the explosion sends F flying to the opposite building's rooftop to end up in the antenna! "Devil! What am I doing here? Mortadelo again! I'm so gonna…!"… "Mr. Filemón! What's the matter?"… "Ah, Mister Dolarini! Well, I haven't slept last night and…"… Well, do as I do! A nap in the office!"… "Office! Office…!"…"

"Had to say a taboo word but then again how could he know? That Mr. Dolarini is going to be the ultimate victim here."

"…"Aggression beyond limits! A fella named Filemón rips a street light and tries to hit a client, Mister Dolarini, even though he was advising him. The gendarmerie is on their trail and…" … "Boss, I think you shouldn't have…"… "Shut up and run! When we're somewhere safe I'm gonna settle it with you!"…"

"So then… V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"Off air! See you next time!"

"Phew. It's over."

"Oho. Someone in Twitter named "One of the Unlucky Greeks" says that Cosmo Man and Freeze Man will rewrite the laws of the cosmos and absolute zero!" Napalm Man suddenly announced.

"Yeah. Sure. It's gotta be Sieg &amp; company, anyway."

"They also say that Pharaoh Man will challenge Dark Man to a Dark Game with Shade Man as referee!"

"Oh come on."

"And that the radio trio will eventually become the video trio!"

"Why would they?" He shrugged.

"WHAT? "Bombin' – bombin' Man is weak!"… I'm gonna blow them up right here and now!"

"And what if the 3 of them are waiting to ambush you? Huh?" Leon questioned.

"Who cares? At least I'll take down one of 'em! Later!"

"Sheesh. Those guys… Prince, sir… Do scold them!"

"Leon? I saw Napalm Man run out. Did something happen?" Cosmo Man called out from outside of the firewall.

"Sieg &amp; co. made a provoking tweet and he went to fight them. I tried to warn him, sir, but…"

"Huff. Well. He's been warned and despite that… Maybe we should try to make him a bit more cool-headed?"

"Maybe so. If he runs off into an ambush just because of that then that's not advantageous."

"Indeed."

"What's with Napalm Man?" Shade Man asked Cosmo Man.

"He was taunted and went off to defend his pride." He sighed.

"Huff. He shoved me apart from the entrance. I'll go report to Legato – dono."

"Do so. Maybe he can kick some sense into the man."

"Roger that."

"What about…?" Dark Man asked next.

"He got taunted and went to fight the authors of it."

"My, my. Youth nowadays…"

"I know. They should learn to be cool-headed from Freeze Man."

"I think that was irony but not like I care." Freeze Man dully commented.

"Let's return to our posts and assignments." Cosmo Man told them.

Leon sighed as he opened his laptop and began to interact with it.

"So. Raito – kun, is it. Don't worry. I'm sure that we'll get along: and I'm going to infuse courage into you. Like how Golden Star gave me the courage to live on after what happened to me… HUH?"

He turned around and opened a porthole to look outside of his room (had a bed, the desktop and an adjacent bathroom): there was nothing on the water so he shrugged and shut it but didn't spot the white figure standing on a metallic edge on the ship's side which vanished with a flash…


	3. Chapter 3: Behind closed doors

**Chapter 3: Behind closed doors**

06:16 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday October the 4th…

"… This P – 13. Password: 9TX8Y34BD6312L57."

"Password acknowledged. This is Spiral. Report."

"T – 13 and G – 13 are about to start their missions."

"Good. Don't be in a rush. A chance will come. Don't take any action until I explicitly order you to."

"Roger."

"Continue investigation: make sure to find all data that exists on the target so that the operation proceeds smoothly."

"Roger."

"Don't forget that if something goes wrong and you're cornered…"

"… "Death will save us, but not "this" one."…"

"Good. Such is Oath Number 3 of SN."

"Glory to SN!"

An unidentified figure in an unlit room was having a radio exchange with someone using a voice distorter but the tone made it clear it was a man: they spoke in a hush and some low-tuned hums could be heard nearby.

"And glory to our grand leader, Lord Void!"

"He expects you to fulfill the missions or die trying. Do not forget that."

"Yes! I acknowledge the commands of Lord Void."

"Excellent. We shall speak again, comrade. Glory to SN!"

The transmission ended and the figure chuckled under their breath as they began to interact with several holographic screens: data scrolled down them and the figure read it.

"How supreme and magnificent. As expected of Lord Void!"

09:58 AM (Manila Time)…

"… Say. Isn't it hot today?"

"Yeah. How odd."

"The AC's broken?"

"It was working normally."

"Hello? AC center? What's with the AC?"

"It's out of order… Forever! Mugro~h!"

"What! There's an intruder!"

"Impossible! How did they skip the firewall?"

"Mugroh, mugroh, groh! Piece of a cake! I used a proxy to dig a tunnel underneath it! Feel the fear!"

"Oi. Fatty rascal. Fight someone of your size."

"Wha~t?"

"I'll be waitin' out there… Heh, heh, heh."

"Wait!

"Who'll wait when ya tell 'em to? Huh? Mr. Diplodocus."

"MUGRO~H!"

The workers of a bank in Manila had begun to complain how the air had suddenly turned hotter: one tried to contact the Navi in charge of the AC but the only reply was a growl and a cocky voice: someone else called out to the intruder and they apparently ran off.

"Security! I want to know what the hell is going on! Show me the sensor footage NOW!" One of the employees ordered.

"We're on it! Two Navis have intruded: as the first one said they dug a tunnel starting 50 meters away from the firewall to avoid perimeter detection…" One of the security staff reported.

"The safes are unharmed?" Another asked.

"So it'd seem. The intruder apparently decided to mess with the AC first before trying to steal from them."

"This must be kept under wraps or else our reputation will sink!"

"Footage available…"

"I ain't a Diplodocus! I'm FLAME MAN!"

"Fire Sword's lame power-up Navi!"

"Fire Sword? Grrr! Hinoken – sama! The name's Hinoken – sama!"

"I'm surprised: thought the ghost deleted the loyalty program."

Flame Man, the Navi that'd belonged to Hinoken, was the intruder that had dug a tunnel to get inside.

"I'm Shunoros! Raging Flame! Let's brawl here, in the lobby! I told everyone today was maintenance day to avoid trouble." The opponent called out off-screen.

"Grrr! I still remember how one of you gave me trouble not too long ago!"

"Uncle Moriarty loves trouble and double!"

"Wha~t?"

"Heh, heh!"

Raging Flame came into view: he had a helmet on which only protected the front and sides of his head: his hair freely flew out from behind him: transparent red shades covered his eyes which had brown irises.

The helmet's forehead included a large metallic horn and two yellow shapes near the outer edges shaped like the Alphabet "M" character which were glowing with a brightness-changing yellowish light: one moment it glowed strongly the other it glowed in a faint manner.

There was a metallic edge running across the forehead and along the length of the sides together with the ear-pads.

The ear-pads had the drawing of the "honoo" or "Flame" _kanji_ in orange color against a black background.

His chest armor appeared to be pretty thick stuff and had four diagonal-oriented grayish diamonds built into it: the Alphabet letters "RF" colored yellow had been drawn on the center.

The shoulder armor was thick as well: there was a round yellowish band circling the shoulder joint and from there reddish armor extended to protect the whole shoulder: it ended with three short metallic claws set on the edge of a valley-like opening.

There was a bit of exposed arm covered by black "skin" before the forearms' armor (starting at the elbows) began: the forearms' armor started with a circle protecting the elbow and a metallic diamond-shaped piece set over the upper edge of it while aiming upwards.

The rest of the forearm and hand were protected by a layer of armor in the form of a cylinder's upper half with two brownish plates set over it.

It also had a small brownish dot on the left side of the armor which looked like decoration.

A small crevice split the set into two parts: the aforementioned part and a more simplistic running across the reverse of the forearm and wrist: his hands were covered in black "skin" as well.

Regarding the rest of his upper body and legs, it was enough to say that they were covered in black "skin" and that some brownish diamonds were set in a column running down the sides of the body until where the large boots began, at around the knees.

The boots were thick and big as well and they began at the knee: a metallic hexagon was set on the upper edge and its upper half served as additional protection for the legs: their dominant color was, of course, a fierce bright red color: another two hexagons were stacked below the upper edge along with two small diamonds.

These two small diamonds extended from the second hexagon's SW and SE corners.

A thin black line travelled from the ankle to the start of the fingers before drawing an arch and forming a small black cavity from which a metallic triangle emerged and pointed northwards: there was another one large in size and colored in a dull orange color immediately below and the rest of the boots were the double-thickness soils formed by two large curved-edged triangles.

He could be over a meter and seventy tall and, from the face, a teenager about Enzan's age.

"Hra~h! Raging Magma~!"

He built up energy on his weapon and shot a stream of red-hot magma to Flame Man but he turned green and bounced it off: the ground suddenly rumbled and some of it burst upwards creating a shockwave: he lost balance and collapsed into a side.

"Growah!"

"Heat Missile!"

A missile was shot next and it impacted Flame Man: he managed to jump back to his feet and growled.

"Fire Breath!"

"Raging Magma!"

Both attacks met head-on and exploded, generating pools of magma on the surroundings along with flames: Flame Man chuckled and summoned a swarm of 8 "Chample SP" Viruses that rushed for Raging Flame but he merely chuckled and formed a Break Count Bomb: he threw it at the ground and jumped away as the explosion took them out: Flame Man suddenly jumped towards him.

"Jet Black Flame Tower!"

Several Flame Towers sprouted around Raging Flame and converged into him but he simply chuckled and his body glowed as they began to spiral around his body: he accumulated them into the shape of a ball and, the next second, it'd become a beam.

"Hmpf!"

The beam headed for Flame Man and his flames turned green: the beam suddenly split into 8 streams of flames that circled around Flame Man and began to suck up the green flames: he gasped and Raging Flame drew two Flame Swords which he used to attack the main body taking profit that it lacked defenses: Flame Man growled and shot back his Fire Breath but Raging Flame didn't mind it: he gathered the flames again and shot the beam: it pierced through Flame Man's body from above in a straight line so he collapsed into the ground with a groan and a thud: Raging Flame simply landed back on the ground and folded his arms as he snickered at Flame Man.

"Grrrr… Damn it all! I'm INVINCIBLE!"

"There we go again." XY grumbled.

"Yo. _Danna_. Did you like the boilin' battle?"

"Hard to say. You, citizen, did try to use some of the parts you described in your exposition earlier but you clearly rely too much on that "invincible" mode and do not realize it has its weaknesses too. You surely lowered the guard because the opponent was of Flame Attribute as well. You thought it would make no difference. But anything can me a difference." XY dully exposed.

"Y-yes, sir…!"

"He proved to be much more capable than you. I think you need to boil your brains before burning your body." He ironized.

"R-roger…!"

"Come back."

The "Phoenix" effect happened and the guy vanished so Raging Flame shrugged and dived into the tunnel Flame Man had bothered to dig: he emerged on the start of it and walked away while humming a tune: a voice rang out all of a sudden.

"Stop!"

"Who…?"

"Hah!"

A Heel Navi with an eyepatch over the right eye dropped in and looked like he was about to start a _karate_ match given his pose: Raging Flame frowned.

"I'm the king of _karate_!"

"And what if?"

"I'm cool!"

"So what?"

"You're mild!"

"Oh yeah? Say that again."

"You're a smoldering flame!"

"T-this jerk…!"

"You lack an ignition point!"

"You…!

"Seya~h! Hah! Scan Flash!"

"Huh? Whoa!"

A flash happened and the next second the guy was gone: Raging Flame blinked and frowned.

"What the hell was that about, anyway? Some wannabe…? Or there's more to it…? Hmmm… Better tell the Prince…"

"Oi! Who goes there?" Some Security Navis rushed in.

"Oh! Look! A thief! There!"

The Navis looked elsewhere so Raging Flame quickly escaped the area.

_Scan Flash? A flash to hide a scan? Did the guy scan me? But… For what? _

20:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So this is the place, Kage?"

"Yeah, Zarashe. According to Zero's info…"

"What's our mission?"

"Scout it out…"

"Alright."

"We're authorized to counterattack if we're attacked so… Let's wait for the guys to crack security."

"OK."

Two guys were standing inside of a forest and near an armored door leading to what seemed to be a cave.

"Maybe there'll be a freak of light and dark, Kage?"

"How funny. Zarashe."

One of them, named Kage, had blonde hair and, since he'd put sunglasses on, his eyes weren't visible.

His choice of clothing consisted on a brown overcoat, a pair of jeans and black knee-tall boots.

He also wore a black wool bandana which contained a five-pointed golden star set against a black background inside of a silver circle as emblem.

"Maybe you'll find a guy who'll call you Zekrom instead."

"Oi. Kage. That wasn't funny!"

Zarashe had black messy hair and had sunglasses on: he could be around 16 or above too.

He sported a navy blue coat, jeans and white sneakers.

"You two. Stop discussing." A commanding voice ordered through their PETs (currently inside of their coats' pockets).

"R-roger, Slur – sama."

"I thought you were the serious operatives here. Or do I need to be disappointed?" Slur questioned in an icy tone of voice.

"N-no, ma'am." Both quickly replied.

"Then quit the pointless discussion. If you do not want to anger me."

Both gulped and Slur fumed before the transmission ended.

"She's on the edge again…! Tozukana – san messed it up again: that joke of the other day…!" Zarashe whispered to Kage.

"Sheesh. That gal… She never learns!"

"Has she ever, anyway? Miquel – kun."

"Ah. Andy."

Andy was Navi who was about standard height, that is, over a meter and sixty, maybe closer to seventy.

His eyes' irises were a mix of red and golden and he didn't seem to be too surprised.

Some silver-colored hair could be seen emerging from beneath his helmet as well.

His whole body with the exception of his forearms and boots was painted in a bright silver color.

The boots and forearms, however, had been tinted in a slightly rusted bronze color.

A bronze-colored thin vertical stripe ran across his body from the neck to the end of the crotch crossing over his silver-edged chest emblem (the very same on Kage's bandana).

"Where's Beta?" Zarashe asked.

"Coming… He wanted to double-check to make sure there aren't bobby traps… Security is very, very _amateur_."

"Hum."

"There's a heat signature in the deepest room… All doors are cheap wooden doors and have no locks save for the last one: it's armored…"

"Only one signature? Human or Copy Roid?"

"Copy Roid."

"Hum. So someone managed to get their hands on one. Someone must still have a copy of the stolen schematics and managed to build one."

"Sorry for the wait."

"Ah. Beta."

"How'd it go, Beta X?"

"Found a bear trap like those in _Bio_ 4… Disposed of it. Easy money."

This Navi, Beta X, used black as his body's main color: he had a white piece of armor set over the chest which contained a ruby jewel and two wing-like extensions spreading across the torso until the shoulders: the golden-colored Alphabet "X" character was set within a piece of armor located over the upper edge of the ruby.

His eyes' irises were blood red in coloring but they lacked pupils: his facial expression denoted seriousness.

His helmet's main color was black as well yet he had some blue pieces of armor built around the edges of it and across the middle of the helmet: the ruby had been set directly above his nose and was aiming downwards along his helmet's front part.

The helmet included five extensions shaped like wings and colored white plus a golden edge: two formed on the lower edge of the helmet, another two formed at a height over the eyes and the last one sprouted from the middle of his helmet while aiming upwards.

A golden edge surrounded his neck and formed a small collar-like object around it: his shoulders had white armor over them.

Three thin spear-like extensions formed behind them.

These gave off the impression of a wing as well: the uppermost piece was golden in coloring while the other two pieces were white.

His arms' skin was black until the elbow: white armor encompassed it and extended until the hands and fingers: a golden ring served as additional protection for the wrists.

The rest of his upper body had no decoration whatsoever until the hips, where the leg armor began at: a golden edge in the shape of a triangle marked the start of it.

The remainder of the legs' armor was painted using white color palette: the knees had extra armor over them and two small and short wing-like extensions.

Golden pieces of armor showed up over the ankles yet there was a space between them and the legs: they were bent upwards to form a triangle and included the wing shapes on their edges.

Lastly, his feet's armor included two pieces of outer edge and another two pieces which were separated by a slight space between the front and the rear of them.

Overall, his appearance was reminiscent of a "fallen angel" given the color motifs and all the winged extensions.

He could be about the same height and age of Andy and the other 2 Operators.

"Let's go, then."

"OK."

Both Operators drew Beretta guns with silencers and nodded to each other before Kage pushed the armored door open: they slowly walked down a corridor which had a badly-working set of fluorescent lights: the walls had what seemed to be blood splattered over them there and there and drawing different patterns: they couldn't avoid feeling a shiver go down their spines.

"Hey. Look! There's something written there."

"German. Andy. Can you translate?"

"Sure. Let's see… "_Das Böse weiß vom Guten, aber das Gute vom Bösen nicht. Selbsterkenntnis hat nur das Böse.__"… _It means "Evil knows of the Good, but Good does not know of Evil. Knowledge of oneself is something only Evil has." …" Andy translated.

"Quick online search leads me to Franz Kafka's _The Blue Octavo Notebooks_, 1954…"

"Who'd want to quote something from about 60 years ago?" Zarashe wondered.

"Maybe it's one of those madmen who read too much into it. It gives me the vibes. And reminds me of something…"

"_Biohazard Revelations_? Those Veltro guys and their obsession with Dante's _The Divine Comedy_…" Andy suggested.

"Devil. I hope it's not a bunch of guys like them." Zarashe gulped.

"We'll soon find out."

They advanced forward and gasped when they found a naked headless man's body stabbed into the wall with a spear through the chest: Andy approached it and examined it.

"It's a mannequin." He reported.

"Grah! Whoever's here IS mad!" Zarashe growled.

"Some psycho alright."

"Navis can go psycho?" Zarashe asked Beta X with increasing worry and angst.

"There are cases. Most common cause is that the can only process the same data over and over again because they have no other data: it turns them into broken cassette players that play back the same thing over and over again." Beta X explained.

"… Death… Death… True… or false… False… or true… I am Gregor… I am the monster… Save me, Grete… Don't abandon me in the darkness, in the madness, in the aloofness…" A voice whispered close by.

"Yikes. Worse than a horror movie: living it on the flesh!"

"… Evil is the radiation of the human consciousness… in certain transitional… positions…"

"Quiet now…" Kage whispered.

"It is not actually… the sensual world that is a mere appearance… what is so is…"

"Now he'll claim he's not evil: how classical." Andy fumed.

"…the evil of it… which, admittedly… is what constitutes… the sensual world… in our eyes…" The voice continued whisperings.

"I'm fed up. Let's just charge in. It's a Navi, anyway. If he wants to go down with some struggle then no – one will complain. What's your opinion, ma'am?"

"Hum. I feel like they are dangerous. Proceed with caution. Andy, Beta X. You two handle it." Slur calmly ordered.

"Roger."

Both Navis drew Mega Cannon Battle Chips and nodded to each other and they leant their backs against the sides of the armored door: Beta X reached out with his left hand and both rushed into the barely lit room: a lamp swaying in the air made the light shift positions the whole time so the occupant of the room couldn't be properly seen: a broken giggle with some mechanical sounds mixed in rang out.

"Flesh… Flesh… To be devoured…! To be devoured…!" The voice whispered all of a sudden.

"This guy's NUTS. Totally." Andy grumbled.

"That light's messing with the IR vision. I don't think it's a coincidence: don't lower the guard." Beta X warned.

"Heh, heh, heh… So you finally came… As planned…"

"Huh!" Both gasped.

"Did you like my acting? Worth an Oscar, isn't it?"

"Sure." Both drily replied with some annoyance.

"Heh, heh, heh."

"Who are you?" Andy demanded.

"Me? I'm a shadow. No more no less."

"Charmed." Beta X drily taunted.

"… Matumba, Katunga, Matamba, Patunga! You're now non-legged ducks!"

"Oh hell. Not Alfred again." Both groaned.

"Who?" Slur asked.

"Some crazy Mexican the radio trio used to chat about time ago… They posted some of his crazy home-made videos…"

"But is it relevant?"

"Don't think so… Must be a way to increase our annoyance…"

"… And to lower your guards… Hmpf…"

"Heh, heh, heh…"

"What's your goal? Why did you call us here?" Beta X demanded.

"Answer us."

"Who knows? Maybe I just want to know if the legends about you two are exaggerated or not."

"Legends? Oi, oi. We've been around for less than 3 years!"

"But they called Solid Snake a legend, no? And The Boss. And Big Boss."

"W-well, that's true but…"

"Keep your eyes open, you 2… It reeks of a trap." Andy whispered to the Operators.

"Heh, heh, heh… Slow! A trap indeed! Subtle! Precious! Sublime! Detailed! Grand! Absolute!" He began to gloat.

"Shit." The 4 of them growled.

"Prove it." Slur challenged.

"Sure thin'… Copy Flash!"

"Whoa!"

There was a bright flash followed by quick footsteps and a giggle: when it cleared the Navi in the room was gone and the 2 Navis were growling as their sensory input re-established.

"I felt like a very fast and superficial scan was executed on me but it couldn't get past my outer body…" Beta X grumbled.

"Same here…! Guys! You alright?"

"Grah! That flash was too powerful: my eyes ache despite the sunglasses and all!" Zarashe growled.

"The guy ran past us! The rascal!"

"Chase them. Huh? Wait!"

There was a hum not too far from there.

"Hum. Dimensional Converter… So it was no _amateur_. Maybe they got the data from a server of the Seraphs which Kuroban used time ago…"

"What do we do?"

"Analyze the scene for any hints: if there are none then pull out from there… Leave some monitoring devices in case the culprit decides to come back." Slur ordered.

"Roger."

"There's a switch for normal lights… On!"

Andy turned on the room's lights but it was bare of any furniture: the walls were clean as well.

"Nothing… Huh? Well, well, well. Let devil bite me…"

Andy picked a piece of torn paper from the ground which had the Alphabet letters "SN" written on it using a black ink fountain pen given the thickness of the writing.

"How unusual to leave something hand-written behind."

"SN… Hum. I have not heard of it. I will tell Zero to start investigating ASAP… I have a bad feeling about this." Slur muttered.

"Roger."

Both walked outside of the cave and through the forest to emerge into a small non-paved road where a discrete black Toyota had been parked: Kage unlocked it and they all climbed in (Zarashe as passenger and the Navis on the rear).

"Alright. Gonna leave you on the warehouse, Zarashe, and then go back to my turf. Got some pending job to do…"

"Yeah. It's unusual for you to show up during the week, anyway."

"I'm here because Zero intercepted that mysterious tweet…" Kage began explaining.

"Yeah… "I want Kage and Zarashe with their pals to come meet me. I'm at…"… And there was encoded GPS coordinates which told us where to come." Zarashe continued.

Kage turned on the car and the lights to then drive away: he put on the radio to try to cheer up the mood.

"Ah. By the way, Zarashe… Did you get _Bio_ 6? I thought you'd reserved it online, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I won't spoil it, but the gameplay style is just like 5's one. If you've been seeing the trailers and demos, though, you get the idea." He replied with a grin.

"Yeah. I do. But I think I won't have time to play it… Guess I'll watch over YouTube and if I have time I'll buy and play it myself too…"

"Spoiler ahead! _Bio 6_ has 6 lucky poses!" Beta X snickered.

"Heh, heh. Not bad." Andy liked it.

"Only 1 month left, though… For _Halo 4_… What nerves!"

"I know. What a year! Two _Bio_ titles on the same year: talk about surprising… _Black 2 &amp; White 2_… _Halo 4_… A gaming year!"

"Sure thing."

"We're getting closer to town so we'll turn on the stealth." Andy warned them.

"Remember that we're here and there are no ghosts in the machine, will you?" Beta X reminded them.

"Sure, sure." Zarashe replied.

"OK."

The Navis became invisible and the car drove alongside the docks until it reached a small discrete warehouse: Zarashe and Beta X (still invisible) came down and Andy (also invisible) climbed into the passenger seat.

"See you on the weekend." Kage told them.

"Sure. Bye."

The car left and Zarashe headed for a control panel to the right of the armored sliding door of the wall surrounding the warehouse: he took out his sunglasses to reveal green eye irises and approached the screen: he pressed his right hand against it and a retina scanner became visible: the scan finished and the door silently slid to the right so he stepped in.

"Time to get back to the turf…"

However, he didn't spot the white figure that silently looked on from atop a nearby warehouse building while having their arms crossed: they seemed to be very interested in their actions…

21:41 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Man! I'm stuffed. Talk about a good dinner."

"Yeah. A _marchando_ dinner."

"Speaking of Spanish and all… Let's listen to the newest broadcast: I want to shake off tension."

"Me, too…"

Zarashe and Beta X stepped into a room the design of which was identical to that of Leon's but it had two beds instead of one: Zarashe (sitting on the left bed) took off his coat and placed it on a perch: he wore a brownish T-shirt underneath it and was now taking off his sneakers: Beta X had sat down on the right bed and was interacting with the PET.

"… V! B! N! Welcome to a new edition of our show!"

"Today we bring forth… "The hedgehog"… And it's not Sonic The Hedgehog!"

"Hah, hah! Good one." Zararashe laughed.

"… M alone at the beach! "I'll go have a dive before work. Let's go! UWA~H! I had to fall head-on into a sea-hedgehog! I'll show it to Boss… Hasn't come yet… Well. I'll stuff into a glass of water so that it remains alive for a while… F enters! "Today's HOT! What a DAY! A glass of water! I'll drink at once to refresh! ARGHL!"… "Boss! Did you see the sea-hedgehog I brought? But… Boss! Are you gonna eat it raw? Calm down, man! If you didn't like it then I throw it away! What a brute! I'll cover it with this towel."… "This heat…! Unbearable! I'll wash my face a bit to shake it off… Ah! How relieving… I'll dry… Lari, laro, lara~! AH! My nape!"… "Calm down, Boss! It's not gonna happen again! Here, on a drawer!"…"

"Reminds me of the previous one about the goat… Why keep that hedgehog, anyway? Throw it away, man! And where do you get the idea that he won't need to search the drawers? Man!" Zarashe sighed and sounded defeated already.

"This guy's TOO dumb."

"… "Why! It's Mister Cachaloting, one of my best customers! I'll draw the reports he asked of me… OW!"… "Hi, Mr. Filemón! How's the heat? Shake the hand, man! There! AH!"… "OW!"… "MY HA~ND!"… "I, I…"…"

"… "I'll tell you what I think of these pranks! I DON'T find them funny! Don't run, no!"… I lost one of my best customers! I'm so gonna…!"… "Calm down, Boss! How about you give him my hedgehog as a present?"…"

"Sheesh. That guy…"

"Next! "Anti-theft traps"… "Mortadelo~! Come ASAP! Where are ya?"… "Coming, Boss! Trying out a disguise…"… "Another? I'm going to tell you what I think of them!"… "Boss, why did you do it? I was trying out my porcupine disguise!"… F got the needles stabbed into the shoe! "Stop disguising! They entrusted me with the custody of the grand diamond owned by Maharajah Jamar – Al – Malaje… I'll keep it on the safe and remain here tonight as sentries! I'll remain next to the safe and you keep an eye on the window."… "Roger. Another night of sentry role… What a life!"… "I'll hide on the grandfather's clock and if a thief comes in I'll catch 'em!"… "What time is it? I'll check the clock… It's stopped… I'll tune it and let's see…"… "UAH! My nose! My nose!"… It got twisted! "What pain! There's water here! GH! HELP ME!"… "Boss? What are ya doin' with the tiger fish I bought? It's gonna die!"… "We'll talk about that LATER!"…"

"What chaos!" Beta X muttered.

"Sure."

Zarashe had, in the meanwhile, put on navy blue pajamas and was now lying face-up on the bed.

"… "Maybe the wind can sooth the pain."… "Why! Boss left! And what if a thief comes in? I know! I'll get a rope and set a trap. The shutter's one will do."… M cuts it and the open windows hides F behind it! "Let's go!"… CRACK! "Ow! My nose! What pain!"… "Aha! If someone comes in they'll trip with the rope and into the quick concrete!"… "I'm gonna GRIND the guy into DUST!"… CHAP! "Gotcha! A thief, a thief! I'll check if the guy has any ID before bringing them to the station. What a coincidence! Filemón Pi, like the Boss! Huh? Filemón Pi?"…"

"Who'd think of using concrete as a trap, anyway? They could asphyxiate, no?" Zarashe rolled his eyes.

"… "I'd say these two hairs are no coincidence… What a bad premonition! I'll break the concrete… B-B-B-Bo-Bo-Boss!"… "Don't run, no! I'll give you concrete! Drink all of it!"… "Don't bother! I prefer milky rice!"… F chases with a truck loaded with liquid concrete!"

"I'd rather use water: it creates sound, startles the thief and then you can catch them."

"… "The anonymous letter"…!"

"Oho?" Zarashe looked interested.

"… "Boss! You're in danger! I found this anonymous letter on the mail-box!"… "I'm gonna come to ya place, grab ya and hit ya with a steel beam 'till it melts! My word! X."… "Must be some gangster you sent to prison: we must defend the office!"… "I'll ready a trap! Heh! If he comes in through the window he'll fall into this basin with crabs!"… M suddenly opens the door and the blow sends F head-on into the basin! "Boss! I bring the grandpa's catapult!"… It's an old weapon shorter and wider than a shotgun, the muzzle's very wide! "A~H!"… "What cold blood! He's in danger and was making crab soup… Hey! This weapon's give me the idea for a trap! I used the gun as a trap I set on the door! When the assaulter comes in…!"… "Hi there! Would you buy a lotto number for the benefit of the gendarmes?"… A policeman comes in: since the handle is lowered a rope passing through two pulleys is pulled and pulls the gun's trigger: the blast blows up the gun's mouth, breaks some of the door and blackens the visitor!"

"What bad timing! And why leave the door open, anyway?"

"That guy… The trap was good but…"

"… "BRRR! Looks like you're not fond of sellers, eh?"… "Boss, got…! GULP!"… "A g… gendarme! 100,000 pesetas of fine! I'm gonna give you gun!"… "B-but, Boss! The intention was good! I… Help me! I readied another trap to see if he cools down."…"

"Doubt it."

"…"I better pick my pistol and do some maintenance."… F opens a door and a pot with something inside falls into his head! "Boss! What did ya do? That was a trap!"… "You call this a TRAP? You only tossed a pot of honey in the head!"… "Yeah, because it attracts the box's wasps…" … "WASPS! A~H! HELP ME~! Someone help me~!"… "Why, a cinema! I'll come in to have some fun time…"… "UAH!"… "MOMMY!"… "WASPS!"… "HELP!"… "OW!"… "BRUTE~!"… "Devil! It must be a really BAD film!"… "Ah! You back? Did you outrun the wasps?"… "The wasps I did but not the crown! They've beaten me to a pulp!"… "Crowd? What crowd? Did you go somewhere, Boss? Help me!"…"

"Man! Wasps next. Talk about a painful trap."

"Are they sadists without knowing it? A basin of crabs, too."

"I hope Ikada – san doesn't get funny ideas." He sighed.

"Not like she'd dare."

"Let's hope so."

"… "You know what? Let's go have a walk so that the assaulter will fail!"… "Yeah. Let's go!"… "Why! Is that a letter addressed to me?"… "To you, Mr. Neighbor? Why. It's true. Don Homobono Silbátez… The postman must've mistaken the mail-box… But it's an anonymous letter filled with threats and…!"… "Oh yes! I get 40 of those each day! I'm a soccer referee!"… "It was addressed to the neighbor! To the NEIGHBOR! GONNA CRUSH YA!"… "But, Boss… I didn't look at the envelope, I… CALM DOWN!"…"

"It's true that referees can get those when there are the typical hooligans that believe the referee wasn't impartial and all…" Beta X sighed.

"Yeah…"

"…. Day's last! "The button"!"

"Let's see…"

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

"No wonder."

"… "I've been charged with bringing this super-secret portable missile to the spatial center and…"… "Watch out, Boss! You almost stepped into my kangaroo tail!"… "The missile! It's falling to the street!"… "Mister Butíjez's car's got the rocket accessory he wanted. I'll ready the bill before he comes pick it up."… The missiles falls and plunges into the engine! "Now that I've got that rocket accessory my car will rock! Devil! DEVIL!"… "But, Mister Butíjez! Don't you like the accessory?"… "I'll give you "ACCESSORY"! COME BACK 'ERE!"… "There it is, on that car! Help me carry it to the spatial center!"… "Yes, Boss!"… "Be careful 'cause it's armed!"… "Y-yeah, Boss! Wait, this button bothers me when I carry it… Maybe by stuffing it inside…"… "No! Don't! It's the… TRIGGER!"… Missiles flies on, F clinging into it! "Boss! Do you carry it alone? Ya don't need me?"… "Cut off some of the branches!"… "Yeah, Boss!"… ZOOM! CRACK!"

"Devil. Riding on a missile! Who the hell entrusts a civilian with a missile, anyway? Are the military stupid or don't they know how to do their job in the first place?"

"Sheesh."

"… The missiles flies and breaks the tree! "Devil! What…? I said the BRANCHES! BRANCHES!"... "But, Boss, I… HELP ME!"… "What a day! I feel like I'm flying, flying…!"… A bride who was on a church's doorstep and about to go in with the groom climbs off a car… ZOOM! The missiles flies by and the tip catches part of the dress, dragging her along! "Why! Some are really in a rush to marry!"… "Devil! Someone move that house asides! Move it!"… "Since it's my birthday I'm going to celebrate it with his firecracker."… "Be careful, Melecio, you're too reckless!"… BOOM! "Ow! My dear! What a firecracker!"… "Melecio! What a brute you are!"… "Brutal vandalism! They entrust him with a super-secret missile and uses it to interrupt a wedding and blowing up a building! The gendarmerie is tracing the rascal that…"… "I'm gonna teach you about firing ROCKETS! I'm so gonna…!"… "B-but, Boss… The button… I couldn't know… HOLD BACK, MAN!"…"

"So! This is all for today! V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"V-B-N! Off Air!"

"Well. Crazy as always but not as really crazy as the guy from before: what do you think it was?"

"Maybe it's someone who thinks it's REALLY clever and hopes that with a glimpse of our potential he can build a weapon to counter us… Meh. They'll surely fail. And maybe the "SN" thing is a red herring." Beta X shrugged.

"If you say so… Oh well. Tomorrow will be a better day, anyway. Gonna go nap early. Night, Beta."

"Night."

Zarashe pulled out the covers, slid inside of the bed and placed them atop him again: he was soon sleeping but Beta X looked unconvinced so he walked over to the PC and began to interact with it.

"… SN… A list in Wikipedia… A Brussels Airlines' IATA code with two related entries: Sabena's IATA code &amp; SN Brussels Airlines's IATA code. Buddhist scriptures: Samyutta Nikaya &amp; Sutta Nipata … Tin, sthene, symmetric group… Serial number, space network, spotter network… This last one…? "A system for reporting location and severe weather observations of storm spotters and chasers."… It doesn't sound like it in the slightest." He muttered.

He continued searching as worry began to show up on his face.

"… Substantia nigra, supernova, SN postcode area, Standards Norway, Senegal's ISO country code, Stronnictwo Narodowe (National Party): a Polish political party… Shona language's ISO 639 alpha-2 code… _Sine nomine…_ Surname… SMS Schleisen… And SN machine-gun… Zero. Nothing all. Better leave it up to the pros." He gave up.

_I tried to sound confident to Zarashe – kun but… I've got a bad vibe about this all… _


	4. Chapter 4: Of quartets

**Chapter 4: Of quartets**

12:53 PM (Japan Time), Thursday October the 6th…

"… Devil! We got found already? What "Mirage Camouflage"? It's but a load of crap!"

"Talk for yourself! You said those Mettools SPs were invincible! And now it turns out they're a joke!"

"It's YOUR fault!"

"YOURS!"

"… I give up. I do."

"Heh, heh, heh. The _Danna_'s given up, Corvus – sama~!"

"I know, Wolf! Heh, heh. Oi. You 2. You're slower than turtles!"

"Wha~t?"

"Enough! Grrr! I'll have the flying rascal!"

"Fine! The wolf rascal is mine!"

"Put on some pathetic show. Whatever. I knew it could not end up well."

"Heavy Sand!"

"Heavy Rock!"

"Wha~t?"

Desert Man, another former member of the "Dark Four Heavenly Kings", had been assaulting a Cyber World somewhere with Magic Man but they'd seemingly been found out right away so they had been discussing with 2 guys looking on: XY fumed and sounded like he didn't give a crap for whatever they did anymore.

"I'm Evil Corvus!"

"Shaddup, brat! I'm in charge~!"

"Of the Sahara wastelands?"

"This brat!"

"Is rated!"

Evil Corvus, Desert Man's opponent, was a member of Shunoros given how his design was reminiscent of the others' ones.

His helmet's topmost spot had a small diamond-shaped purple piece of armor directly over his head to shield it despite the rear of it being open and unprotected: the dominant color here was a shade of metallic-like gray coloring plus two small parallel lines which looked like a reclined seat symbol when seen from the profile, starting on the forehead's armor lower edge and reaching until the end of the helmet's length.

He had two large wing-like extensions popping out of both sides of the head: a pair of transparent reddish shades protected his eyes.

The chest armor's centermost spot contained the Alphabet initials "EC" painted in blood red color there.

The armor included a partial ring around the base of the neck to shield it and a thin orange stripe signaling the border between the neck's base and the start of the armor: the frontal plate protruded out of it while forming a shape reminiscent of a hexagon yet slightly different at the same time.

The shoulders' armor included orange stripes which got thinner as they headed for the outer edges and two extensions aiming downwards like triangles protecting part of the arms: two small wing-like triangles originated on the eastern and western sides of the shoulders' armor and extended in a diagonal angle.

The forearms and boots design was a total copy of that of the other "Shunoros" members colored on his own shade of gray coloring and having metallic soils on the boots.

He'd had no trouble dodging the incoming block of sand that Desert Man had thrown at him and taunt him along the way: Desert Man was getting annoyed.

"Corvus Claws!"

"Lion Head!"

Evil Corvus flew towards the guy while dodging the Lion Head and swung his claws SE, SW, NE and NW to damage Desert Man's forehead: he grumbled.

"Desert Stage~! Sandstorm!"

The ground became sand and a powerful sandstorm ensued: Desert Man chuckled and roared as the air began to distort around him and more Desert Men began to show up around there: Evil Corvus was forced to land due to the sandstorm and didn't hear a bunch of Lion Heads coming from behind, hitting him and making him the ground: some Heavy Sands ensued but he used Area Steal and warped out of danger yet he landed atop an ant lion hole and he began to sink: he growled under his breath and warped yet again only to find another hole.

"Shit. I'm fed up with this… Metal Stage!"

"Shit!"

The terrain became metal in an instant and the sandstorm ceased because there was no more sand: the Desert Man copies remained, though, and they began to attack at once, forcing Evil Corvus to focus on dodging and only dodging.

"Shit."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Have at you! I'm invincible~!"

"Like that will help you win." XY scoffed.

"Do watch, Lord XY! I'll crush this lil rascal into DUST!" He gloated.

"NO deletion." XY icily ordered.

"Yikes! Y-yes…!" Desert Man gulped.

"Sheesh. I'm getting nowhere. Come to these… Battle Chip, Toppu! Blow away the fake lot!"

"Crap!"

Evil Corvus used the "Toppu" Battle Chip and summoned a fan that blew away the sand-made copies of Desert Man and soon only the real one was left so Evil Corvus roared and was surrounded by a flames as he flew at hi speed for the guy: Desert Man gasped and formed several blocks of Heavy Sand as a wall but he effortlessly broke through them and impacted into Desert Man, causing an explosion and opening a hole into his forehead: Evil Corvus flew higher.

"That's the "God-bird"! Heh! Not so invincible anymore, are we, Sahara overlord?" He taunted.

"Wha~t? This lil rascal!"

"Hmpf… How fitting. I feel like it today." XY muttered.

"Yikes!"

"And now… The forbidden combo! Prism! Forest Bomb!"

Evil Corvus formed the Prism Battle Chip and threw it in front of Desert Man before shooting the Forest Bomb: the hit triggered the Prism and emitted countless beams of energy that pierced through Desert Man's body: he roared but his wounds suddenly began to regenerate at a mad speed, surprising Evil Corvus: Desert Man suddenly warped his hands and they appeared left and right of Evil Corvus: they quickly closed him and began to crush him: Evil Corvus growled.

"Delete~!"

"Fool! You ignored my orders! Punishment!"

"Oh shit! Gruo~h…!"

Desert Man's body glowed from the inside and it turned into stone, hands included: the hands crumbled and Evil Corvus fell into the ground: he managed to get to his feet: a Lion Head struck him from behind before curving and going back: the Lion Head began to circle around him and to hit him from different angles taking profit that he was still trying to recover from that deadly grip: he formed a Dream Aura to repel the Lion Head: a Sonic Boom suddenly sliced it on half and it was deleted.

"Thought ya needed a hand!" Someone called out.

"Owe ya on, Wolf..." He admitted.

"Bah! Ya will return it later… Let's continue, Lari!"

"I'm not Lari! I'm Magic Man!"

"I see… The damned rascal put an auto-program on a Lion Head that would operate independently of the main body and thus that XY guy couldn't freeze it like he's done with the rascal… The guy should keep a closer eye on 'em or else…"

"Spell "calçots"!"

"What the hell is that?"

"Ask Dalmau – sama~!"

"Shut up, you impudent interloper! Go, my Mettools! Crush them and defeat them! My Viruses are the strongest!"

"Heh! Venomous Wolf – sama slices 'em all!"

Venomous Wolf was another Shunoros member about Leon's height: his helmet's color was a shade of green which looked closer to blue: the helmet was already rather reminiscent of a wolf with two small ear-like extensions popping out from the top and aiming upwards in a 45º angle.

Just below those there were two small curved orange stripes which looked like pupils: the round plain ear-pads had two small teal brown-colored paws emerging from the left side of them and forming a shape.

This shape reminded one of a crab's pincers.

Two larger paws aimed backwards popping from the NW and NE edges:

The forehead also had a white metallic triangle which could be the jaw: transparent greenish shades covered the eyes.

His shoulders were plain with a small circling brown band where the forearms emerged and two large paws popping out of the outer edges while curving like a shark's fins.

The chest armor included the initials "VW" written in an orange color

Other details were the two small squares of that same orange color set on the SW and SE corners of the armor.

The forearms' armor (starting at around the elbow and past the exposed segment of arm covered by green "skin") was rather simple in design having just a small ramp aiming past the armor and emerging from close to the upper edge: they were colored green too while the hands also were covered in green "skin".

His boots were also simple in design: they just had a trapeze-shaped piece of armor set vertically over the knees and one small triangle-like piece close to the star of the toes which had two small openings.

These opening looked like they could vent off heat building up inside of the boots: the soils were plain metallic gray.

"Ya should have some "neules" as desserts!"

"Shut up! Magic Fire! Max speed!"

"Oho. Curse Shield!"

"Damn it all."

Magic Man formed a row of bluish flames but Venomous Wolf blocked them with a Curse Shield and they bounced off Magic Man warped and drew two bluish swords.

"Magic Sword! Hrah! Hah!"

Venomous Wolf crossed his claws in "X" formation and blocked the blades before delivering a kick with the right foot to Magic Man's waist to push him back: he suddenly crouched and jumped skywards, surprising Magic Man: he spun in mid-air and then dived for Magic Man who gasped and shot Magic Flames at him but he simply changed his angle and began to spin in the air to finally hit Magic Man.

"Heck!"

"Heh!"

The blow pushed him back and he bounced off to return to normal position: Magic Man growled and formed 3 Gunner SP Viruses that locked onto Venomous Wolf and began to fire at him: Venomous Wolf grumbled under his breath as Magic Man began to get cocky.

"Struggle! In vain!"

"I wonder 'bout that…" Evil Corvus chuckled under his breath.

"You are the one who is vain." XY fumed.

"Yikes!"

"If you try anything "smart" like that cluster of sand over there then I shall put you into cold sleep for some months as well."

"R-roger…!"

"Heh… It itches but no big deal… Was waitin' for this moment!"

"Ah no! I'm not going to go down through some Muramasa strategy! I'm going to burn you up before that!"

"Oh yes?" XY questioned.

"I mean… I'll defeat you!"

"Heh! Bring it on, Lari!"

"FOR ALL THE…! I'M FED UP!"

"Hmpf…"

"You need to eat more "crema de Sant Josep" as desserts!"

"GRHFKTGHA!"

"Heh! "I'm not saying it was aliens… But it was aliens!"…" He suddenly quoted with a snicker.

"What the…?"

"Hmpf…" XY seemed to be amused by that last one.

"Yikes! Whatever! Quaker SP!"

The "Quaker" Viruses formed next and used their strong arms to hit the ground and cause shockwaves: Venomous Wolf jumped to dodge one but was unable to time his jumps to dodge the second one and third one because they came too fast: he grumbled and quickly brought up his claws to block the incoming sword attack by Magic Man: they struggled again but Venomous Wolf ducked and quickly swung his claws left and right to cut through the outer armor of Magic Man's knees: he growled and his body glowed for a second before it healed: Venomous Wolf jumped backwards and readied his claws while Magic Man looked annoyed, impatient and like he was running out of ideas.

"Heh! How about some "braç de gitano" next? Do you prefer chocolate or cream?" He laughed.

"FIGHT ME!" Magic Man growled.

"Oho. Scary, scary. Taking lessons from Alfred to learn how to sound scary? Or did you memorize his ancestors' secret and erudite spells as well? Those that turn ya into an unlucky guy! In short: a legless duck – sama~!"

"I'M ANNOYED!"

"So what? Anger multiplies your next attack's power by 1.5? It's a critical hit?" He sneered next.

"DAMN IT ALL!"

"Starting to realize your powerlessness? Citizen." XY dully questioned without being interested.

"I concede defeat!" He sighed in defeat.

"How _honest_ of you. Maybe there is still some possibility left on you."

The "phoenix" happened and both of them were retrieved: Evil Corvus and Venomous Wolf chuckled at each other: they heard another chuckle and looked south to spot Shadow Man standing atop a rock that he seemed to have brought for that purpose.

"Well. If it isn't _Ninja_ Man." Venomous Wolf snickered.

"Looking for strays souls?"

"Who knows?"

"… You remember the flavor of these claws?"

"Who knows?"

"Trying to play _cool_, eh? Where's your "oyakata – sama"? Hunting for _kunai_ collections in Indiana~?"

"Hmpf."

"There you are. War!"

"War!"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

They both turned to the right to see Colonel and Tomahawk Man there: Colonel raised his right arm's saber and Tomahawk Man spun the tomahawk as if getting in the mood for a battle.

"… Eh… Prince?" Evil Corvus called out through the radio.

"What." Someone replied.

"W-well… Colonel and the other 2…"

"Showed up there? Where are you?"

"Well… A _pachinko_ in Hiroshima City…"

"You went to start a fight in the city that has a _Peace_ Park of all places, you fools?" He was getting annoyed.

"Those Phoenix guys began it! We came to give 'em a lesson!" He nervously clarified.

"Ah. So they started it. XY…! You shouldn't have let them." The man fumed.

"What do we do?" Venomous Wolf asked.

"Let's frustrate them. They deserve it: I'm not fond of their intrigues and their cowardly tactics. Pull out."

"Roger!"

Both warped out of the spot: Colonel shrugged and looked unimpressed and so did the other 2.

"Huff, huff… I'm finally here! Who placed all those air-mines? It took forever to reach this place even using a Dash Condor!"

Blues rushed into the scene and stopped when he saw how the 3 of them directed dull glares at him: they all drew their weapons all of a sudden and chuckled.

"W-what? Colonel? Shadow Man? Tomahawk Man?"

"Something's out of place…" Enzan warned.

"Heh, heh, heh… The Unlucky Greeks make their debut onscreen! Charge: we'll turn that guy into 0s and 1s!" "Colonel" giggled and ordered with an evil snicker.

"Seya~h!" "Tomahawk Man" exclaimed with a pitchy voice and also forming an evil snicker.

"I'm cool!" "Shadow Man" spoke using vulgar dialect and chuckled aloud as well.

"Plug Out!"

"Wha!"

Enzan retrieved Blues as the 3 of them converged on the spot and swung their weapons: they did nothing but that didn't impress them either: they all giggled or chuckled: they then checked that no-one else was looking at them.

"Success! Let the fear crawl into 'em!" "Colonel" giggled.

"Let the shivers go down their spines!" "Tomahawk Man" snickered.

"And let terror drive 'em into madness!" "Shadow Man" added.

15:15 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Why! Leiter. I thought you wouldn't come today."

"Quit it with the nicknames or cha know what's coming."

"Heh! The guy will ignore me, I know! I'll handle the field! I'm the Queen of the Field!"

"_When_ did you become THAT?"

"Right 'ere and now! Lily of Lilycove!"

"OI!"

"… Hmpf…"

"There we go again. Sheesh."

A girl and her Navi pal had been standing in a room somewhere which had a balcony overlooking a set of 3D cameras and projectors: two platforms with handrails and which could be moved by hydraulic pistons were installed there.

"I'm Joanne The Queen of the Field! How's that, Leiter?"

"… Dunno."

"Sheesh."

"Tozukana. Do us a favor and focus on what involves YOU. Will you do us that favor, for once?"

"Tommy went to Mommy!"

"HMPF!"

Tozukana, the Operator, was a girl who was on her late teens or maybe early 20s.

Her hair was tinted black even though some patches of brown hair could be seen beneath it and her eyes' irises were brown.

She looked smug and amused.

She wore a black leather one-piece suit which covered her body starting slightly beneath the shoulders plus purple leather boots.

Her Link PET was colored purple and black and had the Alphabet "L" character surrounded by a golden edge as emblem.

"And that's Lily: the Lilycove Ruler!"

"Oi, oi…"

Lily, the Navi, had a _Goth_ look to her given her use of heels, two metallic loose bracelets in her forearms and a collar with spikes protruding from it around her neck.

Her helmet's forehead had the word "Goth" engraved on it using scarlet red letters and her eyes' irises were also scarlet red: her expression denoted annoyance.

The bodysuit's predominant color was black with some patches of white scattered like stains there and there.

She could be around a meter and sixty or closer to a seventy tall.

She currently looked both annoyed and exasperated.

"Prove it."

"What. Leiter challenges me to a duel?"

"You know the guy's Qong, Felix Qong."

"Of the Qong Dynasty~?"

"Hmpf."

A guy and his Navi pal had come into the room and Tozukana had begun to try to taunt the guy and the Navi was getting annoyed instead.

"Prove… it."

Qong, the guy, had short brown hair which had been cut into a military haircut but was largely hidden by a grayish cap with no logos on it whatsoever: his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses too.

He wore a sleeveless camouflage-colored vest over a black long-sleeved shirt plus a pair of jeans.

His gray and brown PET had the golden-colored Alphabet "T" character drawn as emblem surrounded by a black edge.

"Fine! Hah!"

"Operation: start…" His voice was dull and monotone.

Both jumped into the platforms along with the Navis and the platforms moved towards the center of the room.

"Let's begin with a Level 3. You OK with that?"

"Roger… Tom."

Tom, the Navi, could easily be around a meter and eighty tall and he had the looks of an assassin to him given his cold scarlet red irises and the total lack of emotion on his face.

Other traits included self-inflicted cuts over his upper chest which looked like a count of victims: a total of 17 cuts had been engraved in there insofar.

His main bodysuit color was gray combined with red armlets around the ankles and wrists: his hands had an extra layer of "skin" colored brown and he also sported a utility belt around the waist set with some grenades and knives on them plus a Makarov pistol.

He was holding a pair of binoculars on his hands and the fund hung from his neck.

"Starting simulation… Warning. Simulation is beyond logic."

"HUH?" The 4 of them were baffled.

"Warning. I am mad. I am mad. I am mad."

"OI! This ain't normal and it ain't my work 'cause I know zero 'bout programs and all! Call one of the big guys!" Tozukana protested.

"Weird. Who could have done it?" Lily wondered.

"None of us members: none have the permission to alter the code of the simulator… I think Cosmo Man and Freeze Man are the admins in charge of this..." Tom recalled.

"Hum." Qong didn't lose his composure.

"Dave… Dave… Dave… This conversation serves no further purpose… I am… I am… A cluster… A cluster…"

"WTF?" Tozukana cursed next.

"Freeze Man? Do you copy? The shooting range's computer suddenly turned odd. Can't you do something about it?"

"What? How odd. Only Cosmo Man and I or Zero can alter the programming of it. I doubt Zero's assistants did that either." Freeze Man was surprised.

"Well. Try to do something about it."

"Alright. Sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit until I find what's the problem."

"Fine. You heard it."

"Sheesh. Who the hell did this, anyway?"

The platforms returned to their default position and they jumped off them: Freeze Man ran in carrying a Mac laptop and connected an USB cable from it to a port set inside of a small closet that had a small LCD screen on it too which was displaying "ERROR" in red capital letters: he began to check several programs.

"Someone's messed up with the boot sequence." He cursed aloud and grimaced.

"But who?"

"I'm trying to figure it out… This computer is independent and can't be operated from the Cyber World. You need to physically connect a PC and change the code… It was built like that to avoid hacking." He explained to them as he typed.

"I'm checking the CCTV to see who came in and out as of late apart from the usual 4… Hum, hum… What? Napalm Man?"

"Napalm Man? Impossible." Freeze Man stopped, surprised.

"Yes. Not only he doesn't have hands to properly punch into a laptop, he knows nothing about programming either. Someone tried to pose as him and did it? But the Mac which is allowed to connect is kept locked and we take turns with the custody of the key." Cosmo Man argued.

"And there is no spare key. Not even Zero has one."

"Ikada?" Cosmo Man wondered.

"Hmmm… Let's tell President Hades to question her."

"Wouldn't surprise me! Coming from THE bitch." Tozukana fumed.

"It's a hypothesis." Lily dully reminded her.

"What is this fuss?"

"Ah! Ms. Secretary…"

"Yikes!"

"And now you hide behind me like a kid… How immature cha are."

A woman appeared on the scene: she appealed to be on her late thirties.

Her face's shape looked nice but if one tried to look at it as a profile then it lost most of its charm.

She sported a black hat set to that it hid her gaze and she wore a black blouse plus a pair of jeans and rain boots as well.

Tozukana gasped and quickly hid behind Lily while crouching: Lily glanced over her right shoulder and directed a scolding glare at her while being unsurprised: the woman paid no heed.

"Someone's altered this room's program… At first glance it appears to have been Napalm Man but we've got evidence it wasn't him. So we think Ikada might, mind you, might, be involved."

"I see. But Ikada was staying some days away. But I can contact Sandra and try to figure out something."

"I don't think it's the radio trio either… Pharaoh Man not… Dark Man not either… He's mature enough… And certainly none of us two… We've never been the types to do something so childish."

"Indeed. Hum. I shall go question Napalm Man, anyway. When did that happen?"

"This dawn, about 3:30 AM."

"Alright."

She stormed off and Freeze Man kept on typing: Tozukana sighed in relief and came out of hiding while Qong was busy checking the chamber of his rifle and Tom was doing some push-ups.

"… Fixed it! I've copied the altered portions to analyze them… Good thing I kept backups just in case. I only needed to overwrite the boot file. Now let's see if we can shine some light into this mystery!" He muttered as he kept on typing.

"By the way, Lily-cove! Found some candidates yet?" Tozukana asked.

"Meek folk. The whole of them."

"You mean they were _amateurs_. Want me to show them what fear is about?" Tom offered as he drew a scout knife and as he stood up.

"Don't bother! They learnt what some kicks to the faces were and I think that's enough of a lesson."

"Don't do something that could stain our reputation or Slur – sama is going to discharge her anger into you." Freeze Man warned.

"I know. Just saying. I'm mature enough." He didn't even beat an eyebrow as he sheathed the knife once again.

"Fine. But I warned you." Freeze Man reminded him.

"Hmpf! Let's find the culprit already!"

15:25 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And then I told the guy: "ya got less bones than a skeleton" and went into panic! Followed by some blows and there!"

"… Yes, yes…"

"Dark Man! You looked bored. Am I that boring?"

"Sadly, yes. I don't like people who boast about violence."

"But…"

"You will argue that I was "evil" in the past. But I've got no memory of it, anyway. That could've been a copy of me for all I know. Or I am a copy of that man. I don't care."

"Sheesh."

"Napalm Man!"

"Huh? Ah. Secretary – sama, huh? What's up?"

"We need to talk."

"Oi, oi. I haven't broken anything!"

"It is not about that."

Napalm Man was sitting inside of a cafeteria somewhere and trying to impress Dark Man, who was the master yet it was obvious that he wasn't paying attention and he explained why with a sigh: Ms. Secretary came in next.

"This morning. 3 AM. What were _you_ doing?"

"Huh? Me? 3 AM? Nappin', what else? I'm not a zombie! It's on the PC logs, anyway! Boss!"

"Hum… By the way: what happened on Sunday with that tweet?"

"I rushed off, hot-blooded, but 5 minutes later realized that… I didn't know where to find 'em. I felt like an idiot and went back… 'Long the way some funky guy made some equally funky dance."

"Hum…"

"And then said something about flash and cannons and vanished while overloading my sensory input: if I find the rascal again I'm gonna blow 'em sky high!" He explained with obvious annoyance.

"Are you sure it was "cannons"?"

"… Ah, no. Now that ya mention it… Something with "can"…"

"Scan?" She suggested.

"Ah! Yeah! I remember. Flash Scan! Or something like that."

"Hmmm… What about your passwords?"

"Got 'em in the cache…"

"Is it encoded?"

"No. Normal Navis don't encode the cache: we want to access it often and all. Right, Dark Man?"

"Indeed." He confirmed.

"I see. So that "funky Navi" copied the password from your cache and snuck inside. And must have used its own body as processor to alter the shooting range's program."

"What! Not again! First that Wolf rascal now some funky rascal… They all make fun of me 'cause I'm the rookie! I feel so annoyed, man!" He grumbled.

"Mystery cleared. So it was not Ikada. I will go tell President Hades: and you will not exit _Purgatory_ until Zero assigns to you your new passwords and encrypting."

"I know! Sheesh. Fan – tas – tic! Man!"

Ms. Secretary ran off and Napalm Man grumbled as he stood up and headed for a corridor to the left of the counter.

"Going to the deck! Need some fresh air! And M &amp; F!" He told Dark Man.

"Alright."

He walked down the corridor and stepped into a wide elevator: it automatically headed up and he exited inside of a small unadorned metallic room: a watertight door lead outside, into a deck, and it was open so he stepped outside.

"Ah! Some fresh air."

The deck had some small 2-story building set on a line across the sides to end some meters away from the bow: two gigantic covers were lifted some meters above of the deck as well and they seemed to be big and wide enough to cover the entire deck: the sound of waves and seagulls echoed around and one could see a segment of the port area a few kilometers away.

"You look in a foul mood, my fellow." Shade Man walked up to him while looking slightly surprised.

"Some jerk impersonated me and meddled with the shooting range computer, man."

"What? Hum! Coward folk indeed." He rubbed his chin with the right hand and grumbled.

"Sure thin'… Where's Ou – sama, anyway?"

"His Majesty…? Oh. You mean Pharaoh Man… Up there, in the main tower…" Shade Man signaled a tower behind the rearmost cover.

"OK. Oh well. Gonna have some M &amp; F to get rid of the foul mood. See ya around."

"Alright. I'll go talk with Cosmo Man and learn the details."

They parted ways and Napalm Man headed down the main aisle until he reached the bow: several motor boats could be seen hanging above the deck using cranes: he sat down on a bench and sighed.

"V! B! N! On Air!" The familiar voices rang out through his ear-pads.

"Heh! It's begun."

"Today… "The mailbox" is the opening story! Let's go!"

"… "Mortadelo! Come ASAP!"… "Yeah, Boss!"… "There's been a string of mailboxes thefts so we're gonna catch the culprit! We'll keep watch near this mailbox and when the guy shows up…" … "We deliver a clean hit!"… "Devil! I forgot the baton at home!"… "Don't worry! There's a good branch over there. You hit the guy with force and…!"… The door the branch was leaning against falls off the structure and brings down F! "W-why! Who'd said it was holding the door on place? What if you hid inside the mailbox? When the thief stuffs the hand in…"… "I catch 'im! Good idea!"…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Trouble incoming!" Napalm Man sneered.

"… "Let's go! I'm so gonna scare the guy!"… "A mailbox! What an idea! Here's a nice firecracker! Heh, heh!"… BOOM! "Looks like it didn't work, huh? Allow me! I'll disguise as a mailbox and catch the guy!"… "Well. Let's go pick up the mail. Let's see if the writing is decent enough… Sometimes it feels like they write with the feet!"… A postman opens the mailbox's door and spot's M's foot! "Don't look, you!"… He delivers a kick to the nose and the postman runs off! "W-what in the…? I'm dreaming or what, man?"… "I found a nice nut! I'll shatter it and eat it. I'll use the mailbox as support so that I don't need to duck."… "OW! OW! OW!" … M runs off and the fellow gaps! "I'm t-telling you the mailbox ran away! It's got two feet!"… "Heh! No big news! Not to me, anyway!"… "Looks like your plan didn't work either!"… "You were looking? Got another idea! Let's place a bear-trap and when someone stuffs the hand in they'll be caught! Done! Let's wait for the yells to ring out!"…"

"Heh! I'm sure this is gonna fail too."

"… "I'll check out if they've robbed this mailbox. Doesn't seem to be the case… Huff! I'm fed up with stuffing my noses in…!"… CLACK! "OW! OW! OUWAH!"… "Yells! Gotcha! Let's go! Gotcha, you rascal… Po-policeman!"… "Gulp!"… "I'm so gonna send ya to jail for 20 years! I swear!"… "You and your plans! Can't you run faster?!"… "I only had this turtle disguise at hand!"… End!"

"Always annoyin' the cops, huh?"

"… Next! "Sinister cargo"! "Boss! Big news! I overheard a chat between drug smugglers! They're gonna bring a truck loaded with opium through the Silly Crow Road!"… "What? Let's go! We'll destroy that cargo!" … "Yeah! Let's go destroy it! Here's the road!"… "Let's hide and wait for the truck to come!"… "Milestone disguise: on!"… "I'll hide in this sack! It's full of weeds!"… "OK. Let's go feed Eulalio. Here's your meal!"… MUNCH, MUNCH! "OW! OW! OUWAH!"… Turns out it was donkey food!"

"Heh! As expected!"

"… "Whoa! The alfalfa is filled with bugs!"… "My ear!"… "You'll need another hiding spot!"… "Yeah… In this thicket!"… "Weeds are getting bigger as of late! I'm always burning them…"… "OW! Water! WATER!"… "Come on, Boss! T'as nothin'!"…"

"Heh! My burnin' soul is to blame, I guess! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"… "I'll climb into this pine tree and jump down atop the truck!"… "I'll place pushpins in the ground to blow up a wheel! And when they come down I'll hit 'em with this mace!"… M, to try it out, hits the pine tree and F falls down: the pushpins stab his back! "OUWAH!"… "But, Boss… Why were you in the branches like a monkey? Help! Look! It's come!"… "We need a plan RIGHT NOW!"… "Gotcha! Jump atop the engine and aim the gun at the driver! You force 'im to get down and I'll destroy the cargo!"… "Good! It's coming…!"… "Go, Boss! Jump!"… "Here I go~!"… PLAF! "What happened?"… "T-the truck's engine is below the cabin! Ow!"… "The radiator's broken! You moron! How am I going to bring this CELERY cargo into the town?"… "C-celery? Did you say CELERY?"…"

"Spanish pun, huh?"

"To our dear audience: "celery" is spelled "apio" in Spanish! "Opio" and "apio"… M's deafness is to blame once again!"

"Heh! Mistaking the "a" with an "o"…" Napalm Man chuckled aloud.

"… "I'm gonna make a new one with your BONES!"… "… "Drug smugglers"… "Opium truck"… BRRR!"… "Well, man! It's just one letter, not like it matters!"… End!"

"And you say that!" Napalm Man laughed.

"… "The pearl necklace!"… "Boss? What are you carrying?"… "The pearl necklace that the Great Duchess entrusted me with! Hold it for a sec: I must tell the Duchess that I've received it."… "It's long! You can use it to play skipping rope! GULP! The string's broken!"… "Hey! What was that noise? Help! Mommy! The window…!"… "What's with the window, Boss?"… "AH!"… F falls off the window, bounces off a canopy and lands atop a taxi! "Hey! You've never used a taxi before? You must come in!"… "Breaking the collar…! I'm gonna give 'im a lesson!"… "Hi, Boss! Wanna play marbles?"… "I'm going to…! AH! Help me!"…. "The Boss sure has an agitated life!"… CRACK! He breaks through the door and slides down the stairs' handrail! "Aren't you ashamed of acting like a kid?"… BLOM! Inside of the taxi he goes! "You again? You must open the door to get in!"…"

"M, the jerk! Why don't ya pick them up and try to fix it? And instead you play with them… The guy doesn't realize how important it is? The guy…"

"… "Gonna crumble 'im!"… "What? You going on foot now? Ya mad or what, man?"… "You back, Boss? How about a game?"… "Come here!"… "I'm already here, Boss!"… "Devil! Not again!"… "You're good with the legs, eh, Boss?"… "I'm skidding!"… "Let go of me!"… "The stairs!"… "Watch out, Boss!"… "You could play that at home!"… They go down the stairs! "Now you wanna start a _bulería_?"… "You look happy! Did you get the lotto?"… "The guy's back! With another!"… They rush past the taxi and break! "My taxi! My taxi! Nyah, hah! Let's dance, dance!"… "The pearls fell into the sewers! Go back inside! And don't come out 'till you find them!"… "But, Boss… This water is very dirty!"… End!"

"The guy… Heh! Won't learn."

"Day's last! The "band"!"

"Oho?"

"… "Boss! I heard that there's a band of gangsters in an abandoned villa outside the town…"… "What'd you say? Let's catch 'em and become famous!"… "Roger! This is the villa!"… "Heh! A lil fence… Easily overcome! A~H! Electrical fence! It's electrical!"…"

"Zappin' first contact!"

"…"Got an idea to deal with that! I'm gonna swing you and toss you over it like how Scottish toss the trees!"… "Well…"… "OK! Go!"… He lands into some canopy and ends up a atop a dog's head! "UAH! I got bitten! We'll need some other way to avoid the dog!"… "Let's dig a tunnel! Come in and let's dig!"… "Good!"… CLOC! "What a thick rock!"… "It's my head, moron! We gotta be inside the perimeter… We're gonna drop on 'em!"… The ground a below a cow crumbles and it falls into the tunnel! "What's this? OW!" It kicks M out! "Boss! Coming?"… And F follows! "I'm here… OW! Under the villa…! GRRRR!"…. "Don't worry! We climb and enter through a window! I brought the climber disguise! It's broken!"… The water discharge pipe breaks and falls atop F! "Thanks, Boss! You stopped it before I hit the floor!"… "Enough idiocies! I'm gonna tackle the door!"… "I'm going to have some fresh air…"…"

"Heh, heh, heh. I suspect another failure."

"… "I like feeling the wind's freshness into the stomach and…! UAH!"… F runs in and collides with the guy: his wig jumps out! "You're under arrest, you gangsters!"… "W-what? Whatcha sayin', man? Ya mad? We're the "Band of Gangsters" and we were going to perform a live today!"…"

"Hah, hah, hah! What a name for a music group! Well. Seein' how there's U2 and the lot… But, really… Nyah, hah, hah!"

".. "Rongo's been attacked!"… "Gotta be competency!"… "Let's teach 'em a lesson!"… They tie them into chairs and organize a live with them purposely tuning the instruments wrong to punish them! "Oh yeah! Rock 'em all, man!"… "No more~! We've already heard it 14 times!"… "When we get outta this I'm gonna teach you how to tell "bands" apart!"…"

"14 times? Whoa." He whistled.

He suddenly gasped and turned around to look at atop one of the buildings but there only was a group of seagulls flying above it.

"Man. And here I thought I was being watched… Hey! Beta! Did ya see anyone?"

"Huh? What? See anyone? Where? When?"

"… Don't mind it. My imagination."

"If you say so…"

Beta X happened to be walking into the area so Napalm Man asked him but he didn't know what he meant so Napalm Man shrugged.

"Going out?"

"Yeah. We've got a mission to scout a warehouse… Let's hope it's not some weirdo like the other day around." He sighed.

"Everyone's goin' mad as of late… The autumn winds?"

"Dunno. Maybe it's a curse."

"SEYA~H!" A voice rang out.

"HUH?"

"… Hah, hah, hah! Nyah, hah, hah, hah! Those faces!"

"... Tozukana? Sheesh. That joke was lame."

Tozukana suddenly came out from a behind, laughing, and both Navis fumed at her joke.

"I beat Leiter! 5-4! Eat that!" She boasted.

"Yeah. I'm sure it was pure dumb luck. As usual."

"Wha~t? You Lucifer wannabe!"

"Lucifer wannabe? Me? When did I say I was that, anyway?"

"HMPF!"

"Sorry to the delay. Let's go."

"Zarashe! What's the bitch up to, HUH?"

"Whoa! Tozukana – san? Well, I dunno. Not like I need to know, either."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Don't annoy me if you may."

"Hmpf!"

Zarashe joined them and Tozukana began to question him all of a sudden so he fumed.

"And where's the blondie guy?"

"Kage? You know he only comes on weekends. Today's a Thursday!"

"Wha! Thought it was Sunday!"

"You could've asked Lily." Beta X dully reminded her.

"Halt! Halt! What are these voices? I cannot concentrate!"

Pharaoh Man suddenly hovered down there and glared at everyone: Tozukana fumed.

"These guys are to blame, sarcophagus!"

"I doubt that. I highly do. You have a reputation of being troublesome to begin with." Pharaoh Man scolded.

"Go back to your RPG world!"

"Hmpf. How childish. Children nowadays. They do not know when to be quiet and silent."

"CHILDREN? I'm 19!" She protested.

"For me you are still a child."

"Yeah. And you're the Nameless Pharaoh. And you think you're the King of all." She fumed next.

"Wrong. I am but a guardian. Of this battleship." He wasn't impressed in the least.

"Yeah. Sure. Loopholes man."

"Tozukana. Not you again."

"Oh shit."

Ms. Secretary suddenly showed up there and was pretty annoyed: Tozukana directed a hostile glare at her but didn't even flinch or react to it on the first place.

"I agree with Pharaoh Man. You behave like a kid."

"Oh yeah? Tell that to the blondie!"

"Kage is competent. Never stirs up trouble. Unlike you or Ikada." She countered.

"Ki~h! I'm fed up! I need some _martini_!"

"You are minor of age. And there is no alcohol on board. You know that so your statement is meaningless and a feeble attempt at trying to pose as strong." She dully broke it down.

Tozukana looked about to do something but in the end merely walked away at a brisk pace: Ms. Secretary fumed.

"That spoiled woman…! What are you waiting for? Zarashe and Beta X: get on the move now! And remember the orders, Napalm Man! Pharaoh Man: go back to your duties! I want you all out of my sight! NOW!" She began to command.

Zarashe and Beta X quickly jumped onboard one of the boats: it swung over the handrail and then lowered into the water: the hooks were released and it sped away: Napalm Man headed back towards the main entrance while Pharaoh Man hovered into the air and headed for the main tower: she fumed and stomped the ground with the right foot as if to vent it off altogether.

"Hmpf!"

"_Mademoiselle_… Violence doesn't solve anything." A voice called out through a Sub PET she had on her right hand.

"President Hades… You heard it?"

"I did."

"What should be done?"

"Let us have some patience. For now we should focus on who that intruder was or what was their purpose."

"Maybe they came to tease us. Or to provoke us."

"Could be. I have the hunch they're not coming back. They want us to be feel paranoid and annoyed. And it's starting to work." Hades warned her with a sigh.

"I apologize."

"You are not to blame, _Mademoiselle_… We aren't perfect. And they aren't either so they'll commit some mistake. Sooner or later. All we need to do is to wait for a chance."

"Good. Let them come: this time we shall figure out who they are. By the way, Zero found some rumors and tweets about "SN" but insofar he says they lack credibility. What should we do?"

"Stay alert for that too. It might be their own tactic: to make their own existence unbelievable from the start so that we don't take them seriously and we later realize it was a powerful enemy indeed." Hades ordered: he was tense, as evidenced by his voice.

"Understood. I shall relay those orders immediately."

"Forget about the misbehaving children if you may as well. I am not asking the impossible, of course. But try to ignore as much as you can."

"I will try."

"Thank you."

"You need not."

"Maybe we could discuss the details at my office?"

She pocketed the Sub PET and headed back towards the entrance: she gasped and looked to the top of one of the buildings but there was nothing: she remained silent and then shrugged: yet the mysterious white figure was silently standing behind one of the buildings with their arms crossed and apparently starting at the horizon…


	5. Chapter 5: Treachery

**Chapter 5: Treachery**

10:15 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 8th…

"… But… Will this be alright? _Senpai_."

"It'll be alright. I've got permission."

"But… Why me?"

"I trust you."

"But… We've only known for 5 days…"

"Does it matter? I want to help you."

"Why?"

"I told you: you and I are alike. Someone close to you harmed you and now you're sinking into despair and fear… I did as well. But they taught me the courage to fight it back… If you see the type of people they are… Maybe that will give you a hint as to how to find the courage to fight that demon back."

"You shouldn't…"

"…have bothered? You must stop thinking like that: it only feeds your own pity and disgrace and it has no end. It'll only lead to darker and more dangerous thoughts."

"… Is that so…?"

"Yeah. It is. I went through that too. It wasn't easy overcoming it. But if you believe that you've got the potential too then… You can."

"Potential… Strength?"

"Yeah."

Leon was driving a motor boat and Raito was sitting on the passenger's seat next to him: they were engrossed in a talk: Raito looked in a better mood than a week before but he still seemed to be unsure about himself and a lot of things.

"What is the name of this organization, _senpai_?" Raito timidly asked while avoiding eye contact.

"Golden Star."

"And what is their goal?"

"To contribute to the stability of society… It sounds complicated but in essence it goes like this… Our super-computer is constantly gathering all kinds of data… They are inspected, analyzed, classified… And we act using that info as basis… We pave the way for the legal authorities to take care of criminals and all…" He explained.

"And where are we going with this boat?"

"To the HQ."

"Is it too far away to go on car?"

"You can't reach by car: it's a battleship."

"B-b-battle… ship?" He gasped and looked up.

"Yeah. _Purgatory_. Well. Technically it _isn't_ but the design was based off a battleship project. It doesn't have any onboard weapons." Leon calmly explained.

"P… Purgatory…? What is that?"

"Well. It's taken from Christian beliefs: a place between Hell and Heaven where one might attempt to amend for their sins and finally ascend to Heaven."

"Amend for their sins…?" Raito muttered.

"It doesn't mean we've done sins. It's just that we're in a territory where only those with a good will can step in… Only those who repent their sins and deeds can enter…"

"Repent…"

"Don't take it too literally either. Nobody really does. It's just a name and that's it." Leon relieved him.

"Understood…"

"We're about to cross the stealth field." Leon eyed a radar screen set in the control console.

"What is that?"

"A dome that hides it from the naked eye..."

"Yikes."

There was a sudden flash that quickly died down and Raito gasped.

"H-huge!"

The whole mole of _Purgatory_ appeared in front of them: it clearly was several hundred meters long and had a submarine-like profile when seen from above including the central turret and the covers: some portholes could be seen built above the water-line too.

"Incredible…!"

"Isn't it?"

Raito was too awed to reply: Leon slowed down the boat and stopped beneath a crane's position: the hooks came down and attached to two spots designed for that on the rear and front of the boat: it was pulled up and softly swung over the handrail to then come to a rest only a few centimeters over the ground: Leon calmly jumped down and Raito snapped out of it to follow him.

"Ah. Leon. Welcome back."

"Whoa!"

"Hello, Cosmo Man."

"You brought a friend, I see."

Cosmo Man came to greet Leon and Raito gasped since it obviously was the first time he'd seen a materialized Navi.

"Yes. But please don't speak too much of it. Else…"

"Tozukana will use that to bother you? Huff. Spoiled children. You can count on me." Cosmo Man rolled his eyes.

"Follow me."

"R-roger, sir…"

"You can drop the "sir"…"

"B-b-but… Y-you looked so cold-blooded and all and…!"

"Oh come on. It's just that I've gotten used to it. There's no big mystery to it, believe me."

"Was that…?"

"A Net Navi, yeah."

"In the real world?"

"Yeah. The technology has been around for some time but it's still heavily classified to avoid it being misused… We've had some cases already and we're trying to avoid more of them." Leon shrugged.

"A-and?"

"Huh? Ah. Yeah. They can eat and drink using a special program that turns it into energy."

"U-unbelievable!"

"I was like you over a year ago, when I became a member."

"How?"

"Pure coincidence. I'd run away from home and hid in the port and a member, Kage – san, stumbled upon me. Seeing how I had nowhere else to go to then this became my new home." He calmly explained.

They stepped into the elevator and went down: they then entered the cafeteria and found Zarashe and Beta X having a domino game while Dark Man was humming a tune as he cleansed some cups.

"Good morning."

"Morning, Dark Man."

"There! 3 or 5." Beta X sneered.

"Steal… not steal…" Zarashe was seemingly trying to hold at back the need to "steal" a tile from the stack.

"Let's not interrupt them." Leon whispered.

"R-roger."

"I'll introduce you to my CO."

"CO? Sounds like an army…!"

"Oh no. We're no army. We're an NGO. A weird NGO but that's it." He patted Raito's back.

They continued into a main corridor that had several armored doors with nameplates on them and a password input panel to their right: Leon stopped in front of one labelled "VP Noir" and pressed the "0" button for some seconds: a small speaker set in the SE corner of the panel crackled to life.

"Leon – kun?" A soft man's voice asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Password?"

"The leg will bite the duck."

Raito barely was able to muffle the outburst of laughter that was coming out of his mouth: Leon smiled.

"Come in."

"Y-yes… T-the leg… bite… a duck…!" He was still laughing at it.

They stepped into a wide window-less room that had a table with some chairs around it, a drawer set with an LCD TV atop it and a large king-sized bed on the north wall: the table was SE of it and in front of the door while the drawer set ahead of the bed.

"_Accueillir au Purgatoire_." Someone announced in French.

"Huh? Ah!"

There was someone sitting on a chair opposite the table.

That someone wore a black monk's tunic with hood which hid his face and their voice was a whisper yet it was clear it was a man.

"Who is it?" Raito asked.

"My name is _Noir_. Black. The VP of Golden Star."

"VP? Whoa!"

"Have a seat."

"T-thank you…"

Raito nervously looked around and spotted a door set on the west wall near the north wall that had a banner saying "TOILETS &amp; SHOWERS": the rest of the walls were unadorned and unpainted so it felt very sparse.

"Are you from France, sir?"

"No. I'm Japanese. But I know some French."

"What did you say, sir?"

"… "Welcome to _Purgatory_"… By the way… Legato!" The man called out.

"Yes, sir!"

"Whoa!"

A Navi suddenly materialized to _Noir_'s right: some data clusters "rained" down from nowhere as some bigger blocks began to spin clockwise around it and then fused with the clusters: a defined Navi's form was the result.

"Introduce yourself to our guest."

"Roger. I'm Legato. VP _Noir_'s Net Navi. Golden Star's Second In Command."

"Whoa…"

The Navi, Legato, used black as his main "skin" color yet his upper torso had red blood armor built over it: there were two black shapes drawn over the shoulders having a golden rim and a thin black line spread from the base of the neck to the lower edge of the armor.

His helmet's main color was blood red as well, yet the inner edges surrounding his thick red shades had a tint of purple to them.

His emblem (having a golden outer edge) consisted of white and black halves split by a thunderbolt-shaped line.

A purple band formed on the forehead and circled the whole diameter of the forehead.

Two valley-shaped cavities had been inserted into the sides of it and they ended in golden circles: a "fin" sprouted from the top of the helmet thus giving it a menacing-like look.

The forearms were colored blood red and had two purple-colored parallel formations which originated at the sides of the emblem atop each hand's palm: they spread over the edge of the forearm while forming a pyramid-like shape.

The central body of the forearm was now colored metallic gray and had two purple circles colored yellow inside: a purplish-colored blade emerged around a cone-shaped purple-colored formation: the blade looked sharp and menacing for some reason or another.

His boots began slightly below the knee and had purple-colored diamond-like shapes which extended as high as the knee: they were colored blood red as well: the soils were colored purple, too.

Lastly, a wild flock of silver hair came out from behind the helmet and covered all of his body's back.

Overall, he looked like a revamped Blues.

"He is Raito – kun. Leon – kun's _kouhai_." He introduced as he looked at him over the shoulder.

"I see, sir."

"I authorized him to come onboard because I thought that might give him some inspiration or ideas so as to how to overcome a crisis he's experiencing."

"Roger, sir."

"Legato – dono?"

"_Dono wa iranai_. Meijin's gonna sue me. Heh!"

"By the way, _senpai_… Is there some connection between my cousins and these gentlemen?"

"The person who saved me, Kage – san, was a classmate of them some years ago. They keep contact from time to time. But don't say it aloud: it might bring misfortune. I don't want to scare you but you should be aware of things work like here." Leon simply explained.

"Cousins?" Legato asked.

"Ah yes. He's cousin to Kage – kun's friends, the Hikari brothers."

"Interesting."

"Don't spread it around, either."

"Roger, sir. You know I am discrete."

"Good. But I felt like you needed a little reminder." _Noir_ shrugged and calmly tapped the edge of the table.

"Why do you, sir…?"

"Wear this outfit? To create atmosphere. To make me appeal as someone enigmatic and mysterious, see." He shrugged.

"I see. By the way, that password of… I'm sorry, I feel like laughing again because… Because…"

"What password, sir?" Legato asked.

"The leg will bite the duck."

"Really, sir? Sounds like something Alfred would pull." Legato grinned.

"Yeah. He'll come raging at my door and demand to use it."

"Maybe you'd like to listen to some crazy humor?" _Noir_ offered.

"Can I, sir?"

"Of course. Wait a min… To put it short for you… Some of the members are adapting Spanish humor comic books to radio… And the humor in them is totally crazy… It's very childish too since it's aimed at children in general, too… Here it is!"

"V! B! N! Welcome to a new broadcast!"

"We'll continue with the short stories! Today's first is… "The Maharajah's diamond"! "Mortadelo! We must go to the villa of the Kankubala Maharajah. He's leaving on a trip and wants us to take custody of a 7,000 karats diamond. Don't worry, sir! We'll watch over it like a child!"… "You better do. Else… Slice!"… "Give me that case! Don't play with it!"… "But… A lizard, Boss!"… "The case! You moron! It's falling downhill! Run!"… One happy goose walks there and the case ends up inside of the mouth! "The goose swallowed it! We must get it back! Don't run, come back!"… "Boss! The law of gravity never fails, right?"… "Of course not! Why?"… "Get ready for the downfall!"… "Huh? Ah!"… He'd run into the air from a small cliff and fell down!"

"Who's afraid of a lizard…?" Raito laughed.

"… "Boss! Are you injured?"… "No! I enjoy this! BRRR! The goose! Gotcha, gotcha!"… Someone hits him with a sturdy cane from a fence's corner! "Fed up with goose thieves! Let's go, "Agripina"!"… "See: it's inside of that corral!"… "You keep an eye out and I'll jump!"… "OK!"…"

"Ah. So the goose belonged to some farmer."

"… "Warn me if the guy comes, OK?"… "Time to run!"… "Don't pull my legs, man! Oh no! No!"… "Yeah, yeah! Take this, you thief!"… "OW! OW! OUWAH! You vile traitor! Running off like that!"… "I wasn't going to get hit in purpose!"… "Quiet! The goose's there! Stop it!"…"

"Sounds pretty crazy…"

"… "What? Where?"… "Let's follow it quietly! Gotcha, gotcha…"… "Time to fly!"… "Mortadelo, gimme a stick to hit it! Where did you get this stick? I know it from somewhere… AH!"… "Have this!"… The guy jumps and crushes F! "Cheer up, Boss! I'm here to help ya!"… "Ow! When the Maharajah knows we've lost the diamond…!"… "It isn't lost! I had it on the pocket! See! I took it out to check it out and since you only wanted the case…!"…"

"What? All that pain and struggle… Were in vain? Why didn't that "Mortadelo" person think his Boss wanted the diamond? Why not tell him he'd taken it out?" Raito was baffled.

"He's dumb." _Noir_ giggled.

"I can see that." He muttered with some resignation.

"… "Don't run, no! I'll give you wood for another case!"… "But, Boss… I didn't know why you wanted it! Help me!"… End of the tale!"

"Really…"

"Next! "Jimmy the "Crow"!"…"

"Does he like crows?" Raito wondered.

"… "Boss! Fresh news! Jimmy the "Crow" has been seen roaming the grasslands of the outskirts!"… "We gotta catch the guy! But it's a clever guy and won't be caught so easily!"… "Easy! Let's use my bull disguise! How about it? He won't notice it's us… When he gets close then I throw a smoke grenade and that's it!"… "Great! Let's go!"…"

"Something tells me it won't go easily." Raito guessed.

"… "Let's close the zippers… And let's see if we stumble upon the fellow!"… They stumble upon a bull! "Devil!"… "What's going on?"… "Run! Run!"… "What's going on? Answer me or I'm gonna hit you!"… THUD! "I'm bit nervous after all those "hits"… Spending some time in the county will do me well!"… The disguise flies in front of him! "Devil! It looked like a flying bull! No way! My imagination's playing tricks on me!"…"

"Of course it is, sir…" Raito rolled his eyes.

"… CRASH! "What a blow!"… "My head's sided and I can't see!"… "Ow! Ow!"… "HUH? I saw another bull dancing "rock" next!"… "Open the zipper!"… "Can't! It's stuck!"… "UAH!"… CRASH! "I'm feeling ill… Leaving…"… "Get us outta here!"… "Someone's fallen into the hole! Calm down: I'll get you out!"… "Thank a lot, sir!"… "Ah! AH! Another bull! It talks!"… "Don't drop us! The tear gas grenade's safety come off!"… BOOM! "Cough, cough!"… The sudden release inflates the disguise and it jumps off heading for Jimmy! "No~! It's a monster! Hyah, hyah! It's chasing me! Hyah, hyah!"… BANG! "COUGH! COUGH!"… "Look, Boss, it's our fellow! Flying bulls and dancing bulls! How funny!"… "What a reward they've given us, eh?"… "We could go to the bulls!"… "BULLS! I'm gonna _banderillar_ you!"… "What's your problem? You don't like bulls?"… End!"

"He's obviously fed up with the bulls!"

"… Next! "The stamp"! "Look, Boss! A letter from a Mainz admirer!"… "Really? What does it say?"… Note: Mainz is a German city! "It says that… What nerve! He asks for a real-sized photo of us as replacement for his scarecrow! BRRR! Go to crap, you letter!"… "Here! Take this!"… "Whoa! Boss! It says in the tabloids that a Mainz stamp was valued at 20 million…"… "MAINZ? The letter! The stamp!"… "Not so fast! It's mine! I'll buy a yacht! I'll be a millionaire!"… F almost had the letter but the other, who's become a bird, steals it! F replaces the phone's receiver with a TNT cartridge that's lit! "2, 2, 4, 7… I'm about to explode from this joy!"… BOOM! "Come here, sonny!"… "BRRR! I'll remember this! I promise you that!"… "Let's sell it and get the 20 million!"… F runs out but M, disguised as a lamp, steals it! "Devil! What's this? A 1 peseta "home saving" coupon!"… "Heh, heh! I'm so good at switching! I'll stuff it on the pocket and sell it!"… F lurks close by with some scissors! "I think there's a philatelic on the corner!"… "Hey You! 1,000 pesetas fine for walking that outfit!"… "W-wha~t? Devil! My clothes! My pocket! My stamp!"… F had cut down from the waist downwards! "And 1,000 pesetas fine! BRRR!"… "Gotcha again! Let's go sell it! Mortadelo must be waiting at the door so I'll use the window! I'll use the ledge to go to the drainage pipe and… A~H!"…"

"How fierce!"

"…"Come back, my fella! Sell it, sell it… Mainz is great! Heh, heh! Boss sure is heavy! Whoa!"… "Halt! Gimme back my stamp, you thief!"…"

"20 million are at stake!" Legato grinned.

"What tension!" Leon was surprised as well.

"… "It's MY stamp!"… "Mine!"… "Like Hell! I'm keeping it!"… "No!"… "I'm gonna hit ya!"… CROC! CRACK! PTUF! "A-alright… We'll split the reward…"… "W-well. Yeah."… "Look at this stamp, my friend! How much worth is it?"… "Psche! If you brought me a kilo of these I could give you 1 peseta."… "WHAT?"… "The newspapers said it was worth 20 million!"… "None, none! You didn't read the whole news! That was because there was one which it erroneously had the national soccer selection's goalkeeper portrait instead of the king's one."… "EAT THIS STAMP!"… "YOU EAT IT! BRRR!"… End!"

"I knew it… Too good to be true…" Raito rolled his eyes.

"But nevertheless, paying 20 million for one erroneous stamp…"

"Day's last! And last of this short stories collection! "Good neighborhood!"… "Mortadelo! Open the door, someone's knocking"… "Going…! BRRR! Always opening and closing doors!"… "Hi! I'm the neighbor of the adjacent office and I wanted to ask if you could lend me some ink."… "Ink, eh?"… "Yes, we've run out of it and…"… "If you want ink…"… "Hey! What are you doing?"… "You go and buy it at the store!"… M picks the short-heighted guy and placed him atop the stairs' handrail to then send him sliding down it! "Help!"… He crashes into a cactus! "Excellent! Is that a way of treating a neighbor?"… "I, well… He was coming to scam us and…"… "You gotta be kinder and nicer to people! Hi! I'm your painter neighbor."… "Ah. What do you need?"… "I'm finish an urgent painting and an easel's leg has broken… Could you bring it here so that…?"… "Of course. Allow me. See? That's how you address a neighbor!"… "Neighbor, here's the easel."… "OK! Let's bring it! GRRR! The "easel" was the model of the painting! The…! GRRRMMMLLLFFF!"… "Hoh, hoh! Hyah, hyah, hyah! Hah, hah! It's so FUNNY!"… End!"

"And thus… V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"The short stories collection is over! We'll soon bring forth a full-fledged adventure! Look forward to it! Off Air!"

"Talk about crazy. But, really… How long has it been since I last laughed like this? Feels like ages ago…" He sighed in relief.

"You needed new inputs." _Noir_ told him.

"G-guess that, sir… Ah… I feel like all of my pain is going away… As if it'd never been there to begin with…"

"That's because a big deal of it is part of your depression: you can only picture yourself in pain and that obsession leads to you believing you're really feeling it when you're not." Leon explained.

"True, _senpai_… When you explain it like that…"

"Well. I think we'll go to my room to chat there: I'll introduce you to my hyper-dynamic Navi."

"You had a Navi, _senpai_?"

"Yeah. But since I didn't want people to learn of my name through my Navi he poses as a solo Navi and never comes to the school." Leon told him as he stood up.

"Enjoy." _Noir_ invited.

"Good morning." Legato grinned.

"T-thank you very much." Raito quickly bowed.

"Good morning, sir."

Both came out into the corridor and then headed for a door near to the end of the left wing that had Leon's name on its banner: Leon punched a 5-digit code and the door unlocked so they stepped inside.

"So this is where you live, _senpai_?"

"Yeah. It's just me and my Navi."

"Did someone call for CRASH BURN SMASH MAN?" Napalm Man's voice laughed from the PC.

"How original. Coming from you." Leon sighed.

"Oho. We've got company? Kidding, my fella! Name's Napalm Man and I'm burnin' rascal! Oh yeah! My heart's on fire! Bring it on, twerps!"

"Odd design." Raito muttered as he looked at how Napalm Man's upper body appeared onscreen.

"Yeah. I suspect Burner Man influenced too much on it. He wanted a flame attribute pal so…"

"So I'm here to burn and raze and climb and sail!"

"Burner Man says you can't beat his new record."

"Hah! We'll see 'bout that by Moran!"

Napalm Man ran off, laughing, and Leon rolled his eyes again: he inputted some commands.

"There. Now he'll leave us alone for a while."

"He _is_ hyper-dynamic, _senpai_."

"Yeah. I thought someone like that would help me cheer up and all but I shouldn't have trusted Burner Man to do something seriously apart from cooking."

"How is it that you don't use honorifics on them?"

"They don't care about them. There are no ranks amongst us agents: we're all in the same category."

"Oh. I see."

"So you see. A little under 1 hour and you've already gotten back a lot of stuff you'd given up on. Convinced?"

"Really convinced."

"Of course: I know you can't possibly escape from the past so quickly especially if it's been something long and painful. What you need to do is say to whoever harmed you that you're stronger than them and they should go broom the chapel."

"B-broom the chapel…" He muffled his laughter.

"Or maybe they need AHOTOXIN."

"AHOTOXIN? Sounds like a Kansai pun." He laughed.

"Yeah. Maybe it'll make them stupider and they'll end up saying they're bringers of bringing brings."

"Sounds like a tongue-twister attempt…"

"Yeah. It does."

"By the way… Who was the lady that always came to pick you up after class, _senpai_?"

"Oh, her? Ms. Secretary. Assistant to President Hades… She's kinda of an overseer who checks if the staff behave. She's very, very strict and makes no exceptions. She drives me for added safety." Leon explained.

"She doesn't have a name?"

"Of course does but nobody knows it. The President calls her "Mademoiselle" and that's it. So we all name her like that."

"How curious… What kind of person is President Hades?" Raito asked him with obvious curiosity.

"Hard to say. I've almost never met him since I'm Noir Administration. On the paper, Golden Star is split into 2 Administrations: each can do as it pleases and has no obligation to report to the other. On the paper, that's supposed to help avoid power struggles but… On the field we all collaborate with each other, both leaders get along and that's it. But that gives you an idea of how much thought went into the planning and building of the organization." Leon detailed.

He was sitting on his bed while Raito had sit down on the chair next to the deck.

"Oh yeah. And for self-defense purposes we're allowed to carry guns with us too."

"G-g-g-GUNS?" He gasped.

"But they're tranquilizer guns, anyway."

"Tranquilizer?"

"Yeah. They shoot a dart that has a powerful anesthetic loaded on it: it may take a few seconds to take effect but it knocks out the adversary for a while. It's been used before and all uses insofar reveal no side-effects so… Even the 2 snipers use that ammunition."

"Snipers…! That sounds like an army again."

"Well. There's a lot of people of different backgrounds here."

"So it'd seem. Ah yes. One thing I found odd the other day…"

"What?"

"I saw you, _senpai_, with 2 adults and a student of the school… You were chatting and laughing at something…"

"Ah. That was Sieg."

"Sieg?"

"My twin brother. We fell apart time ago."

"Why?"

"He bullied me."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't mind it. We never got along, either. Sieg sometimes appears on the area with his gang pals and is a troublemaker who'll stir up trouble from time to time. And that "student" you mentioned is Yanada, from 2 – B. The guy who's always under watch by the teachers…" Leon informed him.

"I noticed. So I should avoid him?"

"Yeah. Avoid the guy: he's a loser, anyway. Can't do anything…" Leon shrugged.

"Understood. I should thank those gentlemen later on." Raito muttered with a weak smile.

"You mean your cousins? Yeah. Don't forget to thank them. Ah, yes… If your father asks… Simply say we met in a café and had a chat. I'm sorry but it's for your sake and his sake as well…"

"I understand. It's our secret, right, _senpai_?"

"Correct."

"I promise I'll keep good custody of it." Raito smiled and nodded.

"Good. That's the face I want to see. Believe in yourself, Raito – kun, and you'll be able to accomplish anything."

"Believe in myself… Yes… That's what I lacked… Confidence in myself: I didn't have it… But I now have it!"

"Good! Then let it fuel you as you move on forward!"

"T-thank you."

"If you feel anxious then you could check out the view from the port-hole and let some fresh air blow the angst again."

"Thank you. I think I will do so."

Raito opened the port-hole and used a small ledge as support to pull his body up and be able to look out through it: he spotted the city they'd left behind and some seagulls flying around.

"Ah… It feels so good…"

"Doesn't it?"

"I feel like I could stand hours on end here and all pain would be gone."

"That's not a bad way of thinking, either. Remember: you're not alone!"

14:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hum. Something's on the air…"

"…and I was telling Tanaka that a "baka" had gone to "tana" and thus become a "Tanabaka"!"

"Good one, man!"

"Did ya know this one? "Waiter! This horse meat IS uneatable!"… "Sorry, _Danna_… Horse's run up… That bein' the carriage…"…"

"Nyah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Oho. Look at that punk. Looks weak."

"Guys! Time for some fun…"

"… Huh? Hmpf. What?"

"You're weak! And we're gonna show ya!"

"Hmpf. Ruthless Vine is my name. And you're goners."

"Hmpf! Guts enough won't suffice! Hi Cannon!"

"Hi Cannon!"

"Hmpf! Nature Shield!"

"Wha!"

A bunch of Heel Navis had been chuckling and chatting amongst them in an alley of an Internet City: a customized Navi walked past them and they suddenly surrounded the Navi to try to beat them: they shot Hi Cannons but they were repelled.

"Don't take Ruthless Vine lightly."

Ruthless Vine's helmet design used a patch of pale green as main coloring: the forehead had been extended forward to form a triangle: this triangle had a patch colored in a lush green color coupled with two small rectangular yellow-colored slits on the bottom edges close to the metallic edge circling the prolongation.

They were largely reminiscent of eyes: the "kusa" or "grass" _Kanji_ had been colored in a mud brown color on the very front of the helmet.

The rest of the helmet used that pale green coloring in a small patch above the lush green segment and in the parts near the rear: two small metallic extensions flanked the sides of the head.

These ended at the same level as the lower jaw: a brownish square with two triangle ends allowed for the fusion of the helmet's segment mid-way across the head and two metallic short-length lances aiming diagonally upwards extending past the head: A pair of transparent greenish shades covered his eyes the irises of which were emerald green too.

His chest armor was rather flat in contrast to other Shunoros members and the initials "RV" in a mud brown color had been set on the center.

A small additional lush green plaque with a trapeze-shaped indentation on its lower edge had been attached blow the chest armor by the use of two white hexagons which also were reminiscent of eyes.

A brownish edge surrounded the neck's base and travelled irregularly across half of the shoulder armor's upper edges: it turned metallic white and ended as spikes aiming outwards right on the outer edge of the shoulders' armor: their lower half was also colored lush green and the division was set as line forming two "V" shapes on its path.

The arms' and legs' armor was similar to that of the other members.

His eyes' irises were green and he seemed to be about Evil Corvus' height and age.

The tactic he'd used consisted on making tree trunks rise from the ground and form a barrier around him before they were deleted: the Heel Navis recoiled.

"My turn. Earthly Roots!"

The ground rumbled and some of it began to rise because some thick roots had formed underneath it: the force made some Heel Navis fall into the ground and others were sent flying.

"Shoot, damn it!"

They began to shoot at him but Ruthless Vine merely used the same attack on himself to jump into the air and make the Heel Navis shoot each other: that obviously pissed them off.

"Moron! Aim properly!"

"I'm doin' that! Ya suck!"

"Rascal!"

"Ugly!"

"Rookie!"

"You too!"

"Idiot!"

"Jerk!"

"Heh."

Ruthless Vine landed atop a building's roof and looked down on the alley as how the Heel Navis began to shoot each other and seemed to have forgotten about him altogether: he jumped down on the other side of the building and walked away.

"Zzzztop!" An accented voice ordered.

"Who…?"

A Heel Navi colored green and blue and having a Vulcan 3 Battle Chip equipped appeared from the right.

"Codezzz! Give to uzzzzz!"

"Codes? Oh come on. Do your homework, idiot. I'm not Golden Star: I'm Shunoros. Wrong man!"

"Impozzzible! Weird guyzzz are Golden Zzztar! Bozzzz zzzaid zzo!"

"What an idiot." He grumbled.

"Codezzz!"

"Yeah. Like I'm gonna be impressed by your toy. Leaf Cutter!"

He formed some leafs with sharp edges and made them fly forward, flying through the Heel Navi and opening wounds there and there: he quickly jumped into the air and dived for the Heel Navi: he delivered a kick to the forehead and the Heel Navi collapsed into the ground: Ruthless Vine gripped the guy's forehead and began to scan the data.

"Slovakian, huh? Another arrogant imbecile, I guess. Go back to your useless master with the tail between legs. You're weak. No – one's gonna give a crap about you. So just get lost if you don't want to be deleted!"

"Damn it! We zzzhall remember thizzzz!"

"Yeah, yeah. Too classical. Doesn't impress me in the least."

"Zzzzhit!"

Ruthless Vine walked away from the fallen Slovakian Heel Navi and whistled a tune as he continued his stroll: he heard an explosion and saw some Heel Navis running off a store while shooting Hi Cannons behind them.

"Run, run! We got the money!"

"Thieves!" Someone yelled.

"Natural Barrier." He whispered.

The ground rumbled and a fissure opened: ivy began to sprout upwards and to the sides eventually forming a barrier about 5 meters tall and 20 wide: the Heel Navis (5 of them) stopped, surprised: the ivy suddenly shoot out some vines that coiled around the Heel Navis and caught them, so they dropped the cases with the stolen money.

"That's as far as you come! Net Police Cyber CID! You're all under arrest!"

"Damn! It's Blues!"

"Shit!"

"Our best hit…!"

"It's your fault!"

"Yours!"

"Hmpf."

"Scum…"

Blues appeared with several Police Navis and the Heel Navis began to blame each other for the capture: the Police Navis loaded them in a truck while Blues walked to Ruthless Vine.

"Ruthless Vine… Was it?"

"Yeah. Take all the credit."

"If you insist…" He shrugged.

"By the way… You should be the on the look-out for a Slovakian guy who's after GS codes… Not dangerous but you never know what a desperate guy like that will do…"

"Hum. Point taken."

"I'm the King of Samba~!"

A Normal Navi colored yellow and green appeared there and began to dance _samba_ (or an imitation of it): they then began to do funny and odd flips and jumps and turns: both guys frowned.

"Beware! It's the Basilisk!"

"HUH?"

They turned around and there was nothing: they heard a chuckle nearby and the Navi had come closer so Blues drew his Long Blade and Ruthless Vine a Long Sword.

"Beware! I'm ugly!"

"Oh yeah?" Both questioned with obvious skepticism and being unimpressed.

"Hah!"

There was a sudden, blinding, flash and both groaned from the forceful shutdown of their sensory input: it managed to reboot after a few seconds and they could assess that the Navi wasn't there anymore.

"When I catch that rascal…!" Blues growled.

"Yeah… Gonna beat the guy to a pulp…! My eyes!" Ruthless Vine groaned as he rubbed them.

"Hum. How odd." Enzan muttered.

"It isn't, sir! It's some piece of…!"

"Alright, alright. Calm down. I get the idea."

"I apologize, sir."

"Don't mind it. I'd said the same, anyway."

"Some clever rascal…! I'll show them how clever it was to mess up with me of all guys!" Ruthless Vine growled.

"Yeah…! That's my intention too…!"

"Blues – sama, we've transferred the arrested men." A Police Navi walked up to him and reported.

"Alright. Apply the usual protocol."

"Roger, sir."

"I'll soon go back to the HQ: as soon as this itching is gone…! Worse than being aimed at spotlight at your face!" He cursed.

"Hey! Speak for yourself. You've got _shades_!"

"GRMFHAJTD!"

"Plug Out already, Blues. See you."

"Yeah… I'm outta here too!"

_Heh! Ya fell for it, guys! Now it's our turn to have some fun… Nyah, hah!_

15:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah! I love this park. Quiet, wide and full of plants. The best place to relax after a morning like today's…"

A guy was walking across a public garden.

His hair had been tinted green and it was neatly combed while his irises were emerald green.

He was about 16 or above years old.

His face had some marks of previous cuts and blows which had mainly faded by now.

His clothes consisted on a sleeveless leather jacket, a lush green sweater, a pair of slightly worn-down jeans and sneakers.

He had a greenish PET with Ruthless Vine's emblem on it.

He also sported a pendant that had a narrow metallic-colored vertical hexagon shape and containing a small jewel-like object colored fluorescent green.

The pendant's north end had a carved miniature human skull there as well which gave it a creepy air.

"Hey! Kisei."

"Netsuhonoo? Fancy meeting you here."

"Heh! I happened to be on my way elsewhere."

"I see."

A new guy met up with him coming from the west.

This newcomer was a guy on his late teens or early 20s.

His hair had been dyed fire red and his eyes' irises were brown.

His choice of clothes were a red opened sleeveless vest over a black t-shirt with the drawing of a crimson or scarlet – colored flame on its center surrounded by spiraling smoke trails.

His jeans were plain and normal and his socks were black wool ones.

His sneakers' color was white.

"Did you find Dully – chan?"

"Dullahan? Nope. Just some idiots, a Slovakian and 5 robbers."

"Bad luck, man."

"Yeah. Bad luck indeed." He shrugged.

"Dully – chan and Elec Man are pending debuts this season… Guess our pals Kazebun and Umisama will handle them."

"Yeah. Umisama can take are of Dullahan and Kazebun of Elec Man. But I'm wondering… What does that XY guy hope to achieve by letting them go out and fight us?" Kisei wondered.

"Dunno. Maybe the guy's just toying with them."

"Could be. Oh well. Better that than someone who wants to use them to invade neighbor countries or use them in crime. By the way… Didn't you say the other say some funky guy pulled a blinding flash on you?"

"Yeah. That rascal…!"

"Same happened to me a lil while ago… Think it's a coincidence?"

"Hmmm…"

"And what Sieg and Urateido said the other day… That those 3 were about to attack them… Something's on the air, I can feel it. Someone's doing something behind the scenes and I'm afraid we'll soon figure out what it is." Kisei exposed while rubbing his chin with the right hand.

"Guess that! Whoa! That's… A Bruce Springsteen cosplay! Behind you!"

"Really? Where, where?"

Kisei spun around eagerly and didn't see Netsuhonoo drawing a Taser: he hit Kisei's neck from behind and he gasped before he collapsed.

"Were it so easy." He muttered.

15:28 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ugh… Gruh… Grah… What the…?"

"Wakey, wakey!"

"Netsu… honoo…!"

"Don't forget the "sama"!"

"What the fuck…?"

"Heh, heh, heh…"

"You…! Betrayed…!"

"Yeah… Wanted more power… They gave it to me!"

"Huh? What's this…? And that…?"

"Heh, heh, heh."

Kisei slowly awoke while groaning and feeling dizzy: his sight was still blurry but he could make out Netsuhonoo standing in front of him with an evil grin on his face.

"Ah!"

He then realized he was placed against a metallic hexagon that was standing vertically: mechanical cuffs kept his wrists and ankles immobile and he was butt naked.

Another thing he noticed was that there was an odd bracelet on his right wrist over the cuff that had two curved colored bands: both were colored lush green at the moment and the rest of it was metallic black.

The room he was in was greatly unlit so the only thing visible were himself, the machine and Netsuhonoo.

"That's a device designed to measure the "fear" on you… Exquisite and subtle fear… I wonder how it tastes like, I really do…" He announced with a grin.

"Fear?" He gasped.

"Yeah. By analyzing your adrenaline and non-epinephrine levels, it can calculate the level of fear you're experiencing. Green is normal. Orange is anxiety. Blinking red is fear. And red is outbreak. When you reach that stage then…"

"Then…?"

"You die."

He suddenly drew a Python Magnum gun and aimed it at his forehead: Kisei gasped and he could feel the fear creeping in: as a response the bracelet began to turn orange.

"It's begun… I'm going to shock you with electricity and see if you can overcome the fear or not… If you do then you're fitting to become one of us… If not… You die."

"You damned…!"

"Start!"

He suddenly drew a remote with the left hand and pressed a button: electrical current assaulted Kisei.

"UGRWA~H!" He roared.

"More! More!"

"GRAWA~H!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

"D-damn you…! You told them… everything…!" Kisei hissed and exhaled hatred.

"Yeah…!"

"Denpa – Henkan, the base… And Kyutora!"

"K-Kyutora?" He suddenly gasped.

"Huh?" Kisei frowned.

"H-huh… Feel the FEAR!"

"MUGRAWA~H!"

"… Kyutora…? Ah! That strategy about making GS believe we were building an orbital weapon… Something to keep them distracted before we moved to Panama…" He seemingly recalled while frowning.

"… Heh… Heh… Hah, hah, hah, hah! Nyah, hah, hah!" Kisei suddenly laughed.

"W-wha? Did I break the guy?" He wondered.

"… You're not… Netsuhonoo…! Nice attempt…!" He grinned.

"W-what are you saying? I AM Netsuhonoo Robin!"

"You aren't!"

"How can you be SO sure, huh?" He hissed.

"Kyutora! The orbital weapon thing… The project name wasn't that to begin with…! And Panama…! Hah, hah…!"

"W-w-w-WHAT?" He uttered in a rush.

"How about you expose… your ugly hide… you fake!"

"Whatever! Die!"

"Not so fast! Hah!"

"The Magnum! Cut in 2!"

"Don't move. Or I'll cut off your neck next."

"E-Ernst…!"

"Sorry I kept you waiting. The armored door was a though thing even for my HF blade."

End Angel suddenly dashed in and swung the sword to split the gun in 2 pieces: he stopped in front of Kisei and aimed his blade at the fake's neck.

"Hmmm… IR scans says you're a Copy Roid. I see. Those Navis with the flash…"

"Huh… What…?"

"They use that to scan the form of a target and then they can recreate it… Mimic Navis… Must be some plan to start paranoia and mistrust between all of us and hope to lead us to kill each other. But that won't work so easily." He muttered.

"H-how…?"

"Did I find this? You forgot something."

"… The nanomachines, damn it all!" He cursed.

"Bingo. And that we know immediately if a Dimensional Converter that isn't ours or Golden Star's is used…"

"Shit."

"And you won't find any data on what "Kyutora" means to us. Because there's no such data and no such record. Confess."

"Fine! I'm Phi the 13th, one of the Unlucky Greeks Unit!"

"What naming sense. Sounds like something a smug brat would come up with, even." End Angel taunted.

"Hah! You lowlifes can't rival the brilliance of Lord Spiral and Lord Void, leaders of… _Shadow Nova_!"

"Shadow Nova. I see. So you're the new annoying guys. After those Crimson Lobby idiots."

"Don't put us in the same boat! Those were greedy fools! We're beyond those: we'll lead the world into a new age, a new order!"

"How classical." He was unimpressed.

He quickly swung the blade and cut off both legs: Phi the 13th fell into the ground and its body glowed before a Normal Navi's body became visible instead of "Netsuhonoo": the same happened to the legs.

"Wait there: I'll soon put you out of your misery." He announced in an icy tone of voice.

"Damn it!"

End Angel formed a knife and used it to break open the restraints and the bracelet (orange, close to red): he helped Kisei sit on the ground and then spotted a cardboard box that had Kisei's clothes inside of it: a desk nearby had his PET and pendant and a laptop that obviously belonged to the culprit.

"Hmpf. I see that you tried to copy the Denpa – Henkan program but failed because it's got several security systems set on it. The Prince is pretty paranoid and it pays off." He smirked.

"Heh… You underestimated us… They all do…! Have at ya!" Kisei weakly grinned.

"Can you stand, Kisei?"

"Gimme a moment… Everything still aches!"

"Good. And you're not going away. Hah!"

"My arms!"

"Your body is but a machine, anyway."

"Shit. Come to these…!"

"What."

"… "Death will save us, but not this one."… Glory to Shadow Nova!"

"Fuck! Dream Aura!"

Phi the 13th laughed in a crackled manner as his body's chest began to glow and it suddenly exploded spreading shrapnel and fragments around: the Dream Aura protected both End Angel and Kisei from them and it all soon died down.

"Shit. They're programmed to self-destruct when cornered." End Angel growled.

"Fuck. Like the BO in Conan… Their agents also suicide if they're about to be caught, too… Calvados and Kusuda did the same…!"

"Don't force yourself."

"Ernst, come in!" A voice ordered through the radio.

"Prince, sir. I rescued Kisei."

"Ah! Good! What happened?"

"To put it simple, sir… Some rascals named Shadow Nova were intending to try to turn him into one of them or kill him."

"Fuck."

"And they can impersonate others. Luckily they lack any info about "Kyutora" so they can easily be told apart."

"Fine. Anything else?"

"They're but Navis using Copy Roids so IR will give them away." He added with a shrug.

"Alright. Come back ASAP."

"Roger, sir."

"Grah… Yeah… I can move a bit."

"Hey. Don't force yourself. I'm going to support you. Denpa – Henkan: release!"

End Angel's armor glowed and broke down into clusters of data: they all gathered in one spot and reformed into a Link PET.

"Phew."

Ernst didn't seem to be older than fifteen or sixteen years old and past a meter and seventy tall.

His hair had grown in an uncontrolled manner and it now extended to past the base of his neck: it had a natural reddish tone to it and his eyes' irises were blue in color: he looked calm at the moment.

He wore a black t-shirt, jeans, black sneakers and a brownish overcoat which was open and had long sleeves.

He also sported a pendant just like Kisei.

"I'll help you dress up."

"Sorry."

Ernst allowed Kisei to lean on him as he managed to put on his black boxers: he put on his jeans next and let go of Ernst to lean against the machine's left column.

"You OK? Don't force it." Ernst insisted.

"Y-yeah… Deep breath… Deep breath…"

He performed some inhalations and exhalations before calming down: he put on his sweater and jacket.

"Here's a chair."

"Thanks."

He sat down on the chair and put on the socks followed by the sneakers next: he nodded to Ernst but, at that moment, the computer beeped and the message "ALL DATA ERASED" appeared onscreen.

"Fuck! I didn't think of seizing it!" Ernst cursed.

"Can't blame you… I'd forgotten about it too."

"Let's retrieve it anyway. Maybe we can force it to trigger a backup: but I'm not so sure of it. If it's still got a serial number we could figure out who bought it and where." He grumbled as he shut the cover down.

"Yeah… Here's my PET and pendant…"

"Keep an eye on this. I'm going to check if there's anything else we've overlooked."

"OK…"

Ernst found a switch and turned on the lights: the room was incredibly small, less than 15 square meters in surface: there was nothing else apart from the machine and the desk.

"This is part of a small bunker built in past times… It's outside of the town in the mountains… It'd seem it's intended to be a temporary bombing shelter… For some VIP or another… It's too small and it's got poor ventilation…"

"Or maybe it was intended as a cell to hide prisoners."

"Could be. Or for someone's sadistic games." His glared turned deadly and his voice icy.

Kisei made no comment as if waiting for Ernst to calm down on his own: he inhaled and exhaled before relaxing and shrugging.

"Let's get out."

"Y-yeah."

They walked out through a corridor the armored door of which had been split into pieces: daylight came in from a few meters ahead and they exited into a small forest clearing: a non-paved path extended from there across the forest and looked wide enough for a truck to use it, even: Kisei inhaled the fresh air.

"Lots of pine trees around here…" He muttered.

"So it'd seem."

"Could you give a minute? I want to discharge the tension." He requested.

"Of course: there's no rush."

Kisei did some stretching and push-ups to get into shape again while Ernst scanned the surroundings with obvious mistrusting: he didn't spot anything so he stopped.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go."

"Yeah. Let's use a DC to get away."

A "Dimensional Converter" emerged from the ground and turned on: both were warped away and then a Normal Navi that'd been hiding close by showed up, grumbling.

"Phi the 13th, what an idiot. I, Gamma the 13th, won't make the same mistakes! I'll lead those fools to manslaughter and self-destruction! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"Yeah. Like ya will." Another Normal Navi showed up.

"Tau the 13th! This isn't your area!"

"It isn't yours, either."

"I'm going to show it to you: that I am the best!"

"Bring it on, Growl Man."

"GTHDAGTKGGH!" Gamma the 13th growled something undecipherable as a response.

"You lot… Do you wish to become scrap and be sent to some junkyard in a forgotten region of the world?" A cold voice questioned over their radios.

"Yikes! Lord Spiral!"

"Hmpf. Well then. Get back to your missions. Now. Before I feel too tempted to press this self-destruct button I've got right in front of my eyes…" "Spiral" grumbled.

"R-roger, sir!"

"And if you discuss again I'm going to turn you into scrap for real. I swear it! There's no room for imbeciles in Shadow Nova. Fools die! Only the strong survive! That is what makes Shadow Nova stronger than anything else!"

"Roger, Lord Spiral!"

"Move it! On the double! MORONS!"

Both warped out yet the mysterious white figure had seemingly seen and heard everything that had happened: they merely leant their back against a tree as they glanced at the entrance and said nothing: the visible part of their face, their mouth, indicated that they didn't seem to like what had happened but that was all…


	6. Chapter 6: Strings

**Chapter 6: Strings**

09:49 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 9th…

"… But, really… I don't know how to thank you, Yuuichirou – san. Hard to believe it's only been a week since we came and Raito has become happier than before!"

"Oh please. It's thanks to my sons."

"Well… Actually… I think it's more thanks to _senpai_ than anyone else: he has taught me a lot…"

"I'm glad to hear that."

"By the way… Did you have plans for today?"

"Yeah. We're going to have a gathering at the park. You could come and we'll introduce you to our pals, Raito."

"I think you'll get along with them, too."

"Alright!"

"Ah… That face… How many years has it been since I last saw it? Feels like ages ago…"

Raito's dad, Raito, Yuuichirou, Haruka, Netto and Saito were gathered around the living room's table as they finished breakfast: Raito looked very animated as opposed to a week ago and the mood was better as well: Raito now looked animated and full of energy as well: everyone felt energetic as well.

"By the way… Netto – san…"

"What's up?"

"Well… It's… I thought you used to have a famous Net Navi named Rock Man…"

"Oh yeah. I did. But he now prefers to help out Papa with his researches at the Science Labs." Netto explained with a shrug as if he was used to being asked about that.

"Is that so…? I'd like to meet him one day… To see what kind of personality he has and all…"

"He's very alike me." Saito admitted.

"Why?"

"I was hospitalized for several years because of an odd genetic heart disease and it had to be a hospital that was running research on it: he felt lonely, and Papa decided to amend for that by designing Rock Man to be like me so that he would remember me." Saito calmly explained.

"Oh. I see."

"Well. Should we get on the move?" Netto suggested.

"It's not that cold and it's sunny: let's take profit of this morning."

"Alright!"

"Have fun, Raito."

"Thanks, dad."

The 3 of them exited the house and headed for the park: they reached the jungle gym and spotted Ooyama Dekao training with it while sweating and grumbling: Guts Man's hologram emitted from the PET (placed on the ground) and was trying to encourage him.

"Guts, de guts! Time to guts! De guts!"

"Huff! Huff! HUFFFFF!" He panted.

"Yo. Dekao. Aiming to become a noddle?" Netto joked.

"Sheesh! Don't break my concentration!" He grumbled.

"Looks like he's not in the mood for introductions. Oh well. The others will be by the fountain: let's go."

"Alright…"

"Guts! Time to rumble and crumble, de guts!" Guts Man suddenly exclaimed.

"E~H? UWAH!"

Dekao lost concentration and fell into the sand: he groaned and rubbed his back while Guts Man began to fight an imaginary opponent by delivering punches and kicks.

"I'm the clever guy of the village, de guts! 666 souls eat 666 souls and 666 souls will remain! GUTS POWE~RRRRR! GU~TSSSS!" He began to yell while moving faster.

"What the heck's into ya…? Sheesh…!" Dekao complained.

"Some tweet, I guess." Netto and the other 2 had heard it.

"Alfred strikes back?" Saito rolled his eyes.

"Is he that fearful?" Raito asked.

"His humor is worse than M &amp; F's one. Believe us."

"Yikes."

"Hey. Netto. Oh my? Who's that young charming prince?"

"Meiru… Could you save up the irony for another day?"

"Who knows?"

"Cha do. Let's not turn this into a repeat of last week."

The group reached the fountain and Meiru was already there: she asked a question with some irony: Roll scolded her and Netto rolled his eyes while Saito sighed and Raito was surprised.

"… Beautiful…" He muttered.

"Oh, really? It's been a while since I got such a compliment. And coming from a cute little prince, too… Heh!" She looked like she was getting cocky again.

"Meiru – chan… Didn't cha learn the lesson last week?" Yaito came in next, sighing.

"Maybe I did maybe I didn't."

"Lovely."

"Trouble." Glyde sighed.

"Nuts." Hikawa sighed as he came in.

"No good, desu." Ice Man sighed as well.

"Look. Are you going to try to create a good mood or not?" Netto questioned.

"Oh well. It depends. On whether there's been something or there hasn't been."

"HUH?" Yaito frowned.

"Too ambiguous." Hikawa muttered.

"Do you think now's the time to go over that?" Netto sighed.

"It isn't!" Roll scolded.

"Oh well. Who's this prince come of some castle at Inaka?"

"Our cousin Raito." Netto fumed.

"My, my. And here I thought he looked familiar and with a reason: he looks like you back when you were playing bust 'em all cop."

"HUH? Oh come on! What did I years ago was just work for the Net Police Cyber CID and accomplish the missions! Stop acting the queen, Meiru, because you look like that Jennifer villain."

"WHAT? I LOOK LIKE JENNIFER?" She got annoyed.

"Cha do." Roll fumed.

"NETTO~!"

"What? I only told the truth. It's not like you to get annoyed like that to begin with." He didn't even flinch.

"Trouble, sir?" Raito asked Saito in a whisper.

"Guess that. You better stay quiet." He whispered back.

"I insist! You acting the prideful queen and all… That's pointless and it only fuels annoyance. Looks like…!"

"Hi there, morning! HUH?"

"Huh? Damn it all!"

_Another_ Meiru along with her PET came in and stopped: the first one suddenly scowled and cursed.

"Glyde! IR mode! Use it!" Netto ordered.

"Y-y-yes, sir! What! That person in front of you, Netto – san, isn't a human but a machine!" He revealed.

"Hmpf!"

There was a flash and the "Meiru" turned out to be another Normal Navi who had a PET identical to Meiru's but that had a woman-model Normal Navi inside instead of Roll.

"Shadow Nova!" Netto exclaimed.

"How the hell…?" The imposter cursed.

"Prince Kuroban shares info with other parties: especially when it comes to rascals like you who earn his enmity." Saito coolly announced.

"Go, Roll!"

"OK! Roll Arrow!"

"What? Ugrah!"

"Devil!"

Roll suddenly materialized and shot a Roll Arrow at the man-model Normal Navi's back, getting stuck there and paralyzing him: the woman-model materialized next but there was a blur and a Neo Variable Sword was suddenly aimed at her neck: Legato was there.

"Found you. No more hide 'n seek. Talk!" He coolly told the woman-model.

"Damn it. The punk from the morning! Tau the 13th! It's your fault for speaking out loud there!"

"Shut up, Omicron the 13th! Why didn't you double check with the Special Squad to see if the real ones had been captured?"

"I thought they'd done so already!"

"You'll tell us the rest at the police station. And before you can think of any self-destructs then…!"

"Duck! All of you!" Saito suddenly ordered.

They all did so just as Stinger heat-seeking missiles flew in and impacted both Navis thus destroying them along with the Copy Roids: Legato formed a Dream Aura to seal the area of the explosion and then looked up to see another Normal Navi (man-model) riding a Dash Condor and holding the Stringer missile-launcher: Legato snarled and formed a jet-pack on his back to then fly towards the Navi but they emitted that infamous flash and managed to flee using the ensuing confusion: Legato landed back on the ground, snarling.

"Shit. These guys are no joke. It's barely begun and I already feel anxious and hysterical. If this keeps up…!" He snarled.

"Fuck." The twins snarled next.

"W-w-w-what IS going ON?" Raito was panicked by now.

"Some mad lot!" Legato fumed.

"Mad indeed! Feels like a repeat of what happened with that damned bitch!" Meiru cursed.

"Geh! A man impersonating you! What bad taste!"

"Hey! Now that you mention it! Hmpf! It's gotta be some stupid guy who wants to become a woman instead." She fumed.

"Devil. This is maddening." Hikawa cursed, for once.

"You needn't say it! Damn it. We can't allow this to keep up!"

12:27 PM (Sydney Time)…

"… Are you sure they'll come?"

"They'll come."

"What if they smell that it's a trap?"

"Hah! They're not cowards. Unlike you lot."

"What? Speak for yourself! That Blues guy gave you a kickass and you already wanted to flee!"

"Sheesh. Who told you?"

"Lord XY!"

"GRHGJKSH!"

"Any objections, Citizen?"

"No, my Lord…!"

"This is your last chance to prove yourself. If you fail then I will simply reprogram you and save me a lot of headaches. You should be grateful instead of trying to pose a strong. Which you surely are not to begin with, anyway."

"Oh yeah! Fighting Cyclone, on the scene! Thundering typhoons! You're my opponent!"

"Thundering typhoons? ME?"

"Why not?"

"YIKES!"

"Let's go! Elec Man!"

"You're asking for it, rascal!"

"Heh, heh, heh… OK, buddy… Found you! Dully – chan! Blue Wave's come to wash you over and cleanse you up!"

"I thought Gray Thunderbolt would come!"

"Too bad. The guy has a different assignment. And the Prince would pulverize you in seconds so he sent me to see how you put up some useless struggle, Dully – chan!"

"Dullahan!"

"Heh, heh!"

Elec Man and another unidentified Navi (because they were hiding under the shade of a porch) had been discussing while waiting at the entrance of a tower at an Internet City in Australia (given how there were several Australian flags set atop the buildings) when 2 members of Shunoros arrived to the challenge them.

"Let's go! Bite my shiny armor! If you can! And you don't break the teeth!"

"This rascal!"

"The name's Fighting Cyclone! Ya better remember it: the fella who beat ya to a bloody pulp! Nyah, hah, hah!"

Fighting Cyclone used green as his main color.

His helmet was also partial since the rear was unshielded and his purple-tinted hair emerged from behind.

It was split into two parts: the uppermost part had a dome protruding off the helmet's center and protected by further armor which, as seen from the front, amounted to a trapeze with two extensions reminiscent of antennae aiming backwards.

Two narrow yellowish pyramids formed from the rear section of the dome and aimed backwards: the center of the trapeze had the "_kaze_" or "wind" _Kanji_ colored purple set there.

The second part of the helmet could be described as an inverted trapeze covering the center of the forehead and with two slightly curved lines aiming backwards and which ended with another pair of inverted trapezes coupled with a bit of black armor: the ear-pads were also purple in color but had no drawing there yet they had a black edge as seen from the outside while the edge running down the cheeks was white.

A pair of greenish transparent shades protected his eyes the irises of which were brown.

The chest armor began with a round blue metallic collar around the base of the neck and, from there, an inverted triangle-shaped piece of greenish armor extended with the purple initials "FC" scrawled on its centermost spot.

The shoulders had an initial upper-half-of-a-cylinder armor coupled with further armor with curved greenish armor built in segments: two white paws were set on the foremost and rearmost sections.

His forearms, like most Navis, had armor starting at the elbow and protecting them: it was built using a green circle plus a green cylinder reaching until the wrist.

Three fins were arranged in a row over the whole of the armor paired with a pair of white metallic blades reminiscent of a dragon's ones starting at the wrist and extending past the hands' length: the exposed arm was covered in black "skin" too.

Similar to Raging Flame, the body below the torso and until the knees was only shielded by black "skin" and a row of dull gray metallic squares ran down the length of both sides.

The legs' armor began at the knees with a blade aiming upwards and a navy blue round edge with a diagonal depression: the rest of the boots were rather plain green models with two bands splitting the boots in three segments colored deep green.

Lastly, a metallic green piece with orange edge reminiscent of a dragon's tail emerged from the rear of the torso's armor.

His overall height was over a meter and seventy tall.

"Let's go! To the rooftops!"

"GRRR! Hey! I remember you! You were my first opponent!" Elec Man recalled with a grimace.

"Fate's cruel, thundering – han!"

"Wha~t? Lightning Blast!"

"Heh!"

Elec Man formed a "Lightning Blast" which suddenly became invisible and then reappeared having cloned itself several times: Fighting Cyclone merely flew higher and then dived for Elec Man who gasped and was unable to react: he swept right over him and the Lightning Blasts hit Elec Man instead: he growled and gave chase to Fighting Cyclone.

"That was LOW!"

"It was HIGH!"

"How lame!"

"Use your imagination, Smith!"

"SHTHSHGTKH!"

"… Oh well. While those settle it show me your moves, Dully – chan. And see if you can avoid falling into Koumei's trap! He's always waiting to trigger it for types like you!"

"Damn it! My name is… LASER MAN!"

"Dullahan" turned out to be Laser Man: he stepped out of the porch and began to load his cannons.

"Destroy Cannon!"

"Destroy Beam!"

"SHA~H!" He howled.

"Blue Wave's your opponent today!"

Blue Wave's main color, curiously enough, wasn't blue, but a shade of silver-like white or, rather, sky-blue color.

His helmet, like all of the other "Shunoros" members, only protected the front and sides of the head while allowing his blue-tinted hair to freely flow out.

As seen from the front, the forehead of the helmet had a device mounted upon it colored metallic gray: it was built using three different parts and the central one spanning across his forehead was shaped like a climbing hill: there then was a triangle-like extensions popping upwards with an orange-like spot on the center of it close to the top: a small piece in the form of an inverted triangle extended downwards and that was where his blue transparent shades were affixed at: his eyes' irises were blue.

The sides of the helmet were painted in that sky-blue color and had no decoration on them save for the "mizu" or "water" _kanji_ painted over the ears using silver-like ink.

The part of the helmet behind the front triangle had a fin spanning across it and until the back: the fin was divided in three parts as seen from the sides: a navy blue-colored climbing ramp line marked the middle section and the segment below it was colored in a dull gray color while the upper one used the sky blue color: a circling metallic band curved along the rear of the helmet.

This offered protection for the lower part of the head and the neck as well.

A metallic collar-like piece of armor was located around the base of the neck followed by the chest armor which had a metallic upper band followed by an inverted triangle-like piece of armor: the center of it had the initials "BW" set there.

The shoulder armor could be described as being the NW and NE quarters of a spheroid.

Each had a navy blue descending ramp – like line drawn across its length: the lower edges were curved and metallic coupled together with a small square piece on the SW and SE corners of the armor as well.

The forearms' armor (starting at around the elbow and past the exposed segment of arm covered by blue "skin") was rather simple in design having just a small ramp aiming past the armor and emerging from close to the upper edge: they were colored sky-blue too while the hands also were covered in blue "skin".

His boots were also simple in design.

They just had a trapeze-shaped piece of armor set vertically over the knees and one small triangle-like piece close to the star of the toes which had two small openings: it looked like it could vent off heat building up inside of the boots: the soils were plain metallic gray.

"Sea God's Anger!"

"What!"

A wave about one meter tall formed and filled the ground with water: Laser Man scoffed but Blue Wave grinned and drew what seemed to be customized Vulcan Battle Chips with water deposits instead of ammunition chambers: he quickly submerged them into the ankle-deep water and filled the deposits up: a bigger wave came in and the water height rose to knee-height: Laser Man looked around as if fearful of a trap.

"Let's go! Sea God's Pressure! Did some renaming!"

"Cross…! Ugroh!"

"Slow! Dully – chan!"

"Grah!"

The guns began to spin and shoot jets of pressurized water that began to push Laser Man's bulky body backwards: he quickly reloaded them as the water level was now hip-high and thus Laser Man had it harder to move because it was moving downwards.

"Welcome to my version of the "Infinite _Naraku_"… My _watered_ version: say bye to the heat! Say hi to Achoo Man!"

"Interesting…" XY sounded interested, for once.

"It can't be!" Laser Man gasped.

"It can. That young man uses strategy."

"I can do the same! Star Breaker Laser!"

"Oho. Coming?"

Laser Man loaded his guns and aimed skywards while shooting a reddish laser: a portal opened and some incandescent meteors began to rain down but Blue Wave shrugged and simply dived into the water (now waist-high): the meteors instantly cooled down upon hitting the water and harmlessly sank into it: Laser Man grumbled and used an Area Steal to warp atop a rooftop: he tried to locate Blue Wave but the constantly moving water and the steam from the meteors he'd caused made it difficult.

"Damn it. The cold water hides the heat signature! And my still cooling meteors interfere!"

"He read you." XY sneered.

"… Yes, sir…" He begrudgingly admitted.

"Hmpf. Then I'm going to cut you up!"

"Who? Blues!"

Blues appeared there all of a sudden and drew his Long Blade: Laser Man quickly loaded his guns and shot several bursts of laser shots towards him but he merely used an Area Steal to appear behind Laser Man: Laser Man surprised him by turning his head 180º and shooting a laser from his face's slit at his right wrist to momentarily stun him: he used an Area Steal too.

"Wha?"

"Cross Laser!"

"Mugroh!"

Laser Man quickly lifted Blues by the shoulders and formed a powerful cross-shaped laser: Blues' body suddenly began to frizzle and "noise" was triggered thus breaking it into basic pixels: Laser Man let go, surprised, as yet another Normal Navi (man-model) appeared instead.

"Fuck! The Mimic Generator is too frail!" He cursed.

"Shadow Nova…" XY muttered with increasing annoyance.

"Who are they?" Laser Man asked.

"Interlopers. Dispose of them. You are authorized to do so: they are fools who will go down with a bang when things get awry, anyway. Let us teach them how weak they really are!" XY ordered: he was angered for real.

"Roger!"

"… Man. Looks like I ran out of fun."

"The worker's curse, _Danna_~!"

"How funny, Sieg. Stop using the common frequency to say idiocies or else the Prince gets annoyed."

Blue Wave looked on from the water (now chest-high) as to how Laser Man engaged in battle with the imposter Navi and sighed, disappointed: Venomous Wolf's voice rang out through the radio and he grumbled at the interruption.

"Wind Dash!"

"Ugrah!"

"Slow, gramps!"

"Damn it! Go, Killer Eyes!"

Fighting Cyclone was playing with Elec Man by dodging and flying around: he suddenly dashed forward and tackled Elec Man with the right shoulder before backing off: Elec Man snarled and formed 10 Killer Eyes that headed for Fighting Cyclone.

"Heh! Interestin'… Bring it on! Wind Blades!"

"What!"

Fighting Cyclone formed two metallic bars with sharp edges and let the wind spin them around, forming paths converging on Elec Man: he recalled some of the Killer Eyes to form a perimeter around him and he jumped away as the Killer Eyes were deleted by them: Fighting Cyclone suddenly appeared in front of him and delivered a punch to the stomach area that momentarily stunned Elec Man followed by a kick to the left side of the face propelling him away.

"I'm not named FIGHTING Cyclone in vain!"

"Fuck them all!"

"Wanna more?"

"Shit! Not yet! Elec Tackle!"

"What? Whoa! GRUAHCK!"

Elec Man suddenly made his body frizzle with overloaded electricity and dashed forward: he hit Fighting Cyclone and his whole body was electrified: he collapsed on his knees from the pain and Elec Man chuckled as he suddenly gripped his neck.

"Delete~!"

"Like I'll let you! Big Bomb!"

"Wha! Grah!"

Blue Wave warped and appeared a couple meters behind Elec Man while floating in the air: he tossed a Big Bomb Battle Chip and the explosion made him let go of Fighting Cyclone who grumbled and delivered a punch at his nose thus pushing him away and momentarily stunning him: Elec Man hovered and suddenly flew towards another building: Fighting Cyclone got to his feet.

"Not so fast, fuck it!"

"Wait! It could be a trap, Cyclone!"

"Who cares, Wave! I'm not a coward!"

"Man." He sighed.

He followed him as Elec Man reached a rooftop and suddenly broke open a service panel with electrical wires inside: he split one in half and picked both ends: electricity flowed into his body and he began to shoot out lightning bolts that landed there and there: Blue Wave used a Dream Aura to deflect them and protect himself and Fighting Cyclone.

"Told you!" He scolded.

"Sheesh."

"… Beta the 13th won't go down so easily!" The Normal Navi proclaimed as he dodged another of Laser Man's attacks.

"Hmpf. Small fry…" Laser Man scoffed.

"Wha~t? I'm one of the Unlucky Greeks! The best! I disposed of two idiots who failed their missions today! Soon the world shall know the terror of Shadow Nova! Through us! Through the vanguard we are!" The Navi began to gloat.

"Gloat as much as you want. It won't change that you're WEAK." Laser Man was far from impressed.

"Speak for yourself! You and your "gate" and your "legions" of "Darkloids" and all… You got busted by Blues, didn't you?"

"Hmpf! But I wasn't as weak as you!"

"Grrrr!"

"Feeling lost, fool? Try some self-searching." XY taunted.

"Damn it. I'm getting impatient."

"Hmpf!"

"Eat this! Meteor 9!"

"Star Breaker Laser!"

Both began to bombard each other with meteors: Laser Man's ones were slower but had more firepower than the Navi's ones: Laser Man suddenly extended both hands forward and shot two piercing laser beams that pierced the Navi's shoulders: the Navi became unable to move the arms and the next second the knees were pierced so it collapsed into the ground unable to get up: Laser Man loomed over him.

"I said it. You're WEAK."

"Damn it all! Whatever! The fear's just begun! Soon the whole world will be plunged into fear!"

"Hmpf."

"And a bunch of hero wannabes won't be able to stand up to worldwide panic! _Unsere Rettung ist der Tod, aber nicht dieser!_" He growled something in German.

"… "Death will save us, but not this one"…? Damn it! Area Steal!"

The Navi self-destructed just as Laser Man warped away to the top of a nearby building: he heard a CRASH sound and spotted Elec Man who'd been beaten up and apparently kicked all the way there from the roof opposite the street.

"Hmpf. You got cocky." He scolded.

"Talk for yourself…!" He managed to get to his fours and directed a hate-filled glare at him.

"You need some time to "cool" down, Citizen… Maybe some weeks will do it. And you broke my rules like Desert Man. So you will share that fool's fate as well!"

"N-no! I…! I…! Ugrah!"

Elec Man got petrified and Laser Man shrugged before the "Phoenix" was triggered and both were warped away: Fighting Cyclone, filled with bruises and wounds, collapsed while Blue Wave was grumbling under his breath.

"They easily could turn everyone in the world paranoid at this rate: not knowing if the human next to you is the real one or a mimic… These rascals aren't idiots." He grumbled.

"Y-yeah… W-well… That makes 7 of 7 so… Those guys won't be coming out anymore… We can focus our attention on these instead…"

"Yeah. But let's go back to the base and you need some proper rest."

"A-alright… Man! What a day!"

"You needn't remind me. Shadow Nova, huh? We won't let you rascals do as you want… Shunoros will be there to stop you… No matter what!"

18:38 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ya~h… Where's everyone? The Queen's back!"

"Oh come on."

"What's wrong, Sandra? Not happy to be back onboard? Didn't ya miss your shining armor knight?"

"Sheesh."

"Guess that's a "yeah"!"

"It ain't!"

"Hum. Ikada. You're back."

"Yeah, Freeze Man. What's with the long face?"

A girl on her early 20s had come to _Purgatory_.

She had long platinum blond hair plus eyes with blue irises to them: she had a ruthless-like figure to her, even.

She sported a golden-colored jacket over a teal sweater plus navy blue jeans and a pair of black boots.

She carried simplistic-looking black handbag hanging from the right shoulder while a cobalt-colored Link PET with a golden-colored Alphabet "S" character on it as emblem was set on her arm-strap.

"Trouble."

"The Phoenix guys…?"

"No, Sandra… Worse!"

Sandra had green eye irises and also seemed to be on her early 20s.

She had reddish hair as well.

Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt coupled with a golden band around the waist, golden shoulder plates and golden bracelets on both the wrists and the ankles.

Spiral-shaped magenta patterns travelled down her arms' and legs' surfaces while eight lines of the same color spread from the blackish edge of her chest emblem.

Her helmet had a ruby set on its forehead and her eyes irises' was green: her face was shaped like a woman on her late teens or early 20s and its profile had an almost smooth shape to it.

She looked annoyed.

"Some bastards named Shadow Nova… They're starting to impersonate people there and there and plan on stirring up panic…"

"Devil." Ikada was surprised.

"Always make an IR scan of the opponent to make sure they're a human and not a mimic Navi…"

"Alright."

"Ah. Welcome back, Ikada – san."

"President Hades. It's been a while, sir."

"Mr. President."

"Ah. President Hades."

A man walked towards them to greet them.

He appealed to be around 27 years of age and as having a height of a meter and eighty-five centimeters.

His hair was neatly combed and brownish in coloring: his eyes' irises were brown in coloring and he was clean shaven.

His clothes consisted on a black suit coupled with black tie and black quality pants: he looked like a typical businessman.

"As Mr. Freeze Man surely told you ladies… Things are turning blacker with every passing hour… We're struggling here to not to lose our composure and cold blood." He sighed and looked quite stressed and then again it was no wonder.

"Don't force yourself, sir." Ikada told him.

"Yes. I know. How many times have I told myself that…? And most of the times I end up ignoring my own advice… Ironic." He muttered.

"You are tired, President. You need some rest. We can handle the rest ourselves." Freeze Man offered.

"Thank you very much. I appreciate that will. Yet…"

"You should rest: I suspect you aren't resting enough."

"Ah… Yes. Guess I _am_ readable, after all."

He made a low chuckle and headed to the bow to sit down on the box on the right side and lean his right arm on the handrail: he looked out at the sea and the other three silently drew away knowing that he wanted to be alone for a while.

"I'll keep an eye out." Freeze Man whispered.

"You better do. He looks about to collapse, even." Ikada warned.

"Let's go to the cafeteria."

"Sure."

The 2 of them went down and entered the cafeteria where they spotted Zarashe and Beta X playing domino like the previous day: Ikada whistled at Zarashe and he looked up: he blushed.

"Be… I mean… Ikada – san!" He greeted.

"Missed me, cutie?"

"Please…" He sighed.

"Did you see President Hades?"

"Oh my. Zero. How unusual to see you outside the super computer room, really."

"Needed some fresh air… And I felt like it was better to discuss about it on person, anyway…"

"He's on the deck. Freeze Man is with him."

"Alright."

Zero ran in all of a sudden asking for President Hades.

"By the way… Do you always need to have that sword drawn?" Sandra asked as she signaled the sword on his right forearm.

"It reminds me that I'm also a warrior apart from a manager. And now if you'll excuse me…"

He walked out so the girls shrugged and sat down on the same table with Zarashe and Beta X: they continued their domino game which seemed about to end.

"Domino!" Zarashe grinned.

"Good. Let's leave it here."

"And bring in some fellows." Ikada laughed.

"Sheesh. You mean M &amp; F."

"Did ya call for Double Trouble?"

"V! B! N! Looks like everyone's tense as of late… So let's solve this through some crazy humor! We bring you a horror story… Or so it'd seem. Its name is… "The nightmare"!"

"Interesting!"

"… Things begin near a graveyard, in a creepy and dirty forest… A short-sighted fellow is talking with the grave keeper… "Well… This isn't the disco "Shakin' up"…"… SPLASHHH! A figure steps into a puddle! "Hyah, hyah, hyah… HYAH, HYAH, HYAH, HYAH! HUH? What am I laughing at? I'm soaked and it's bad for my rheumatism… and I'm so gonna catch a pneumonia too… ACHOO!"… "There!"… "This is the city… Time to TERRORIZE~! Heh, heh! This guy is gonna shiver in fear! UA~H! HUH?"… A small bureaucrat – looking fellow shows a bag with the "Treasury Inspector" on it! "A~H!"… Another guy with an overcoat walks through… "HA~H!"… The guy opens the coat! "There's no decency left!"..."

"HUH?" Everyone wondered.

"We believe the guy didn't have a shirt on: maybe had some silly tattoos or something like that." Burner Man laughed.

"… A brute-looking guy walks and the assaulter jumps out from inside of a garbage bin! "HA~H!"… "What's with ya, man? Gimme the clock, the money, the credit card, the ring and the golden tooth!"… "I'm gonna take it out on this rascal!"… A man cleansing the street with a broom… "HA~H!"… THUD! "OW! H-hey…! Hold back, man! Behave! HEY!"… Is thrown inside of the garbage truck! "I'm getting off!"… PTAF! CROCK! TUND! BLOM! He rolls due to the speed and meets a tree… And ends up heading for the "TIA" HQ!"

"My, my. An admirer of them?" Ikada joked.

"Yeah. Sure." The other 3 drily replied.

"My, my. Looks like you're not in the mood for my cute subtleness!"

"… The author makes his appearance! "What? No, no! I didn't make up a new character! At all! This guy met with M &amp; F… And they met with the guy so… Their fates ended up intertwined, messed up, rolled up… Well… Find it out yourselves while I go to the traumatology department… OW!" … Turns out he began to twist his arms and legs and ended up making a mess of his body!"

"How odd. The author parodies himself, huh?"

"So it'd seem."

"… "OK! Mortadelo: move it! Deliver those reports! You fall asleep on the way!"… "How bossy of the guy! I don't fall a… ZZZZZ!"… He dreams of a black cloud and a hand grips his neck! "AH!"… The mysterious assaulter shows up! "AH-HAH-HAH-HAH!"… "NGJJJ! GJJJJ!"… "A~H! A~H!"… M begins to hit the guy's right eye! And it turns out he's actually hitting Ms. Ofelia, the secretary! "Don't say anything! I swear it was a nightmare! A NIGHTMARE!"… "You brute! Calling me "nightmare"! I'm going to carve you a new navel!"… "What an odd dream. Maybe the lentil sandwich is to blame? ZZZZ!"…"

"Man. F was right."

"He now dreams he's D'Artagnan! "All for one and one for all!"… "Yeah, yeah! It only takes one swipe of this claw to rip you to SHREDS!"… "Devil! You shall pay for this offense! Take this, you ruffian!"… The blade goes through but does nothing! "Hah-hah-hah!"… "By Beelzebub! The ruffian lives on!"… "Hah-hah-hah! Hah… Hah!"…"

"So… What did he stab?" Zarashe wondered.

"His ugliness!" Ikada laughed.

"… "Ja… Jacinto~! Get this crazy guy off me!"… "Leave it to me, Melecio!"… "And have him gimme back my broom!"… Turns out he'd stolen the cleansing lady's broom and driven it through some guy's ears: a brute guy shows up! TUND! "Devil. Another eyelash dead… My eye's crying!"… "I feel SO SLEEPY when I reach the second line of the minister's speech…! ZZZZ! ONRRK! PFFFT!"… F collapses his head on the desk! Dreams he's going to the toilet! "I'm SO sleepy! Gotta wash my face!"… "HA~H!"… The guy shows up _from _the toilet! "BEJJJ! How dirty! I'm totally wet!"… "IA~H! IA~H! IA~H! IA~H!"… "My shawl! My Baluchistan silk!"…"

"Oops."

"… "W-well… I think that… You can still use it…"… "Yeah! Like this! Have at you!"… GJJJJ! "Boss! What's wrong? You look like a tax inspector!"… "Don't tell me! I had a frightful nightmare! A guy that loomed over me and yelped…"… "Oh yes! I also saw that TV program about that Raphael!"… "No, far more dangerous! Very large claws and much burnt face, blacker than the Barcelona Liceu!"… "Devil! I also saw it! It must be a cinemascope nightmare!"… "Dunno! It was horrific… If I yell then it's the nightmare… Wake me up!"… "OK!"… "IA~H!"… "What? The scream! Boss is having a nightmare!"…"

"Why do they say that about the Barcelona thing?" Ikada frowned.

"Note. The Liceu Opera House burnt down once, in 1994. It was rebuilt and expanded during the following 5 years. So I guess the story was written during that period." Video Man explained.

"… "IA~H!"… "He's suffering! I gotta wake 'im up! WAKE UP!"… SMACK! "You OK? That was a nightmare!"… "Wasn't! A nail on the floor that stabbed my foot! Don't run! I'm gonna smack your MUG!"… "Forget it, man! I only smack myself with "Silly Water" after shaving!"… Door opens: Mr. Super uses it to make them crash against it and stop! "Man! Running around again? What's up today?"… "A horrific apparition! Truly!"… "A guy with a face like that of a fried potato…"… "And dinosaur-like claws that slice it all!"… "That's it! How did you know?"… "I know! That's enough!"… The rear of his suit has some traces of the claws! "And Bacterio's to blame for this mess!"… "I knew it! The bearded guy is always behind it all!"…"

"Classical!"

"… "Well. I think the guy had the first encounter with our subject."… He pulls open a curtain and beaten up Bacterio shows up! "Because that subject has triggered this… NIGHTMARE!"…"

"And, sadly, we reached 8 pages so… See ya next time!" Video Man suddenly announced.

"V! B! N! Off Air!"

"Heh. So! Bacterio has something to do with these sudden real-like nightmares. Another crazy invention. Like Prof. Kaminko of _Pokémon XD_!"

"Oh come on. Those were STUPID. And what "Mecha PKMN"? The only thing Mecha Groudon ever did was roar and move… Was it supposed to improve battles somehow? Can't say that the Mecha Kyorge wasn't useful to reach Nickeldark Island but…" Zarashe muttered.

"… Alright."

"And remember, President… Don't push it!"

"I know. I know."

Zero and Hades walked back in: Hades had taken off the suit and only kept the shirt on: he still looked tired and nervous and Freeze Man followed them: Ikada aslo followed them: the 3 of them were silent and Hades stopped in front of a door with the banner "PRESIDENT HADES' ROOM".

"I'll go rest already. Good afternoon."

"Have a good rest. We'll handle the rest."

"Thank you, gentlemen. But if things go out of bounds then don't doubt on calling me and we'll decide on the spot."

"Roger."

He stepped in and the door closed: both sighed and Freeze Man looked concerned.

"Why would they want to steal those archived reports, anyway?"

"There must be something inconvenient to them…"

_Reports_? Ikada was looking from a distance but he heard what both were discussing.

"Maybe they intend blackmail?" Freeze Man suggested.

"Surely. Seeing what they can do…" Zero grumbled.

"ZERO – SAMA! THE BLURBS ARE BUPRS!" Several Program – kuns called out through the radio.

"Get back to work, you guys!" He ordered.

"ROGER!"

"Huff. I'm glad that Serenade taught them to be cherry and all but I think the guy overdid it, even."

"Well. He is the Reverse King. He knows what he does."

"Yeah. Anyway. I told Legato already so he's going to keep an eye out on that front just in case."

"Alright. I'll watch over Napalm Man. I don't think they're so stupid so as to use the same trick twice but you never know. They might try to employ something slightly different."

"Good idea. I'll scan for any rumors circulating out there and if they're bad try to shoot them down with the Cyber CID's help."

"Roger. By the way… Ikada. It _is_ bad manners to eavesdrop on others: I've heard your breath since a while ago." Freeze Man called out.

"Sorry, sorry! But I was worried about the President."

"Aren't we all?" Zero sighed.

"He'll be fine. He only needs some rest."

"Alright. I'm going back to the cafeteria."

"Fine."

Ikada went back to the cafeteria and saw that the other 3 had resumed playing domino so she sat down and watched them play: she glanced around and spotted Qong having a glass of Coca Cola: he did have an air of not being in a good mood.

_Then again it's hard to know what mood he's in. He's so silent… Huff._

"Problems?" Dark Man tried asking.

Qong didn't even bother to reply so Dark Man sighed and gave up on his attempt to try to establish a chat with him.

_Never replies to anyone, anyway… Only one who seems to more or less know what he thinks is Tom but then again it's not like he chats a lot in front of Tom, either. Joanne – chan only manages to annoy him the whole time._

"Ah. Here you were. What's up?" Tom met up with him.

"… Nothing." He drily replied.

"Bored." Tom wasn't surprised.

Qong shrugged his shoulders so Tom sighed and sat down next to the guy as if trying to get something out of him but Qong apparently decided to ignore him as well.

"Oi. Felix. I know concentration is pivotal to battle and all but… Do you really think that you need to sacrifice your emotions and become a machine instead?" Tom asked.

"Yeah." He merely replied.

"Those Sri Lanka guys…" Tom grumbled.

Qong shrugged again as if to say he wasn't intending to come up with any arguments to begin with.

"Fine. Have it your way." Tom gave up with a grumble.

_Even Tom gives up… Felix is really the type to make everyone give out of exasperation… I wonder what happens when Ms. Secretary gives out orders: guess he merely nods and since Ms. Secretary knows he's competent she needn't oversee him. _

"Let's hope things don't get too dangerous either. Or spiral further out of control…" Zarashe muttered.

"They are already pretty dangerous." Beta X replied.

_But then again… The pressure is too high… What can we actually do to solve this mess?_

"The air's a bit too tense, no? How about we go to the deck?" She suggested.

"Yeah. Guess that." Zarashe sighed.

"Why not? Maybe it'll do for a change of airs."

The group exited into the deck after riding in the elevator and stopped at the left side right after exiting since this one was facing the ocean beyond the bay: they silently looked on.

"Maybe the ocean will swallow this mess." Zarashe suggested.

"Were it so easy." Beta X sighed.

"Yeah… I feel deprive of mood despite the earlier broadcast… I guess that we need to think of a way of keeping our morale high…"

"I know. Maybe some gags or MAD videos…"

_This one Hell of a mess. What can we do to settle the score…?_


	7. Chapter 7: Of Greeks and rumors

**Chapter 7: Of Greeks and rumors**

09:48 AM (Moscow Time), Monday October the 10th…

"… Hello."

"Hey. Serenade. What's up?"

"Well… It would seem things are getting troublesome in Japan."

"Really? Those Phoenix guys again?"

"Oh no. Those are the least of our worries."

"So it's complicated?"

"Pretty much."

"Isn't there something I can do to help?"

"You surely can but we lack info."

"So we don't know what they'll do next?"

"No, Forte."

Serenade stepped into a Cyber World somewhere and met up with Forte: chat ensued.

"Serenade. I was looking for you."

"Ah. Slur."

"… Come with me outside."

"Alright."

Slur suddenly came in and asked of Serenade to come with them outside of the system: Slur was also hovering some inches over the ground and dashed away followed by Serenade: they crossed a firewall and Slur looked around as if checking that it was safe.

"We found a way to tell the Navi mimics apart…"

"Is that so?"

"Scan them and their core signature will give off that of a Normal Navi: that is the tell-away. I tested it myself on a fool named Alpha the 13th a while ago. They were impersonating Napalm Man." She described to Serenade.

"I see. So… What is their goal?"

"We do not know yet. Terror and fear seems to be it."

"I see."

"Blackmail seems to be one of their methods, too."

"Someone you know is being blackmailed?"

"Not yet. But could be. An inconvenient report was stolen…"

"And if the contents were made public someone's reputation and prestige would be in danger?" Serenade guessed.

"Correct. The problem is that it is a _written_ report. On paper. So we cannot know where it is. And anyone could scan it to make countless copies of it too. We can hunt down and destroy the digital copies but if we do not find the physical report then we get nowhere." Slur explained with some annoyance.

"Found you! Fake Messiah! Now I shall eliminate you!"

"Search Man?"

"Search Man, you say?"

Someone called out and spotted Search Man there: he looked smug, for once, and was already aiming his Scope Gun at Serenade.

"Scope Gun! Max power! Satellite Cannon! Max power!"

"Allow me, Slur."

"What?"

Serenade took a step forward and the "lances" hovering behind him quickly shifted to the front and bounced back both attacks at Search Man.

"UGRAH"

There was an explosion and a groan before some frizzling noise rang out and a normal Navi (man-model) was revealed.

"Shit!"

"Another of you lot. How persistent." Slur fumed.

"Shit! I, Beta the 13th, am invincible! What happened?"

"You took me lightly." Serenade replied.

"Hmpf. And here you thought I would then proceed to destroy the Sharo Army to "avenge" Serenade?" Slur had already realized the point of the disguise.

"Shit! I got read already!"

"You fools are but disposable pawns. To keep us busy while the real strength is being amassed or prepared. I have no use for small fry like you lot… Vanish!"

Slur suddenly aimed her right hand at the Navi: some yellow spots formed across his body and some wires with a metallic cylinder at the end popped out and spread across his body, momentarily tying him and suddenly electrocuting him.

"Gruah! What the heck?"

"My abilities are beyond what you lot."

"Shit! And here I thought it was a show-off!"

"They must have told you that in purpose so that you would not doubt on attack him, I would counter, and they would have the battle data."

She extended two thin wires with a miniature cylinder at their end from the right arm which formed a dagger form followed by a tetragon and by a rectangular shaft with a triangular lower edge: the two ends converged into another triangular end and then the frame was filled with energy becoming a graceful sword.

"Vanish."

"Shit! Super Vulcan!"

Slur ran forward and had no trouble side-stepping every a few instants to dodge all of the bullets shot by the Super Vulcan: she reached the Navi and swung her blade upwards, easily slicing through most of the chest armor and making the core's glow visible: the Navi was flung upwards from the attack and then landed face-up on the ground.

"What the fuck!"

"I told you." Slur dully replied.

"Not yet! I can still take you down!"

"Hell's Buster!"

"Mugro~h!"

The Navi stood up and was about to attack again when several energy rounds impacted his body with forced and stunned him while forcing him to recoil: Forte landed in front of the Navi and drew his Dark Arm Blades to slice the Super Vulcan into pieces and destroy it.

"Shit! You! You were supposed to be buried!"

"Hmpf! You got your info from a 1999 newspaper from the looks of it, you jerk! The end! Earth Breaker!"

Forte jumped into the air and loaded up energy on his right hand which grew into the form of an sphere: he hit the ground in front of the Navi with it and the resulting shockwave sent the Navi flying several meters away: they then warped away to escape.

"Oh well. I heard a ruckus outside and came to help." He told the other 2.

"Be careful. Do not let their words awaken anger in you, Forte." Serenade warned him.

"Oh no! It didn't. I was just making irony through M &amp; F." He shrugged and didn't seem to care.

"Hum." Slur dully muttered.

"_When_ will you stop acting so hostile in front of him?" Serenade asked with some annoyance.

"When I feel like it." She tried to evade the topic.

"You are STUBBORN."

"I knew it." She shrugged.

"Eh… Guess I'm on the way so I'm going back inside… I'm going to tune into M &amp; F… Later."

"I will join you later. I need to have some talk with Slur."

"Hmpf."

Forte rolled his eyes and headed back in: he spotted that Dr. Cossack had opened his holographic screen.

"So… What happened?"

"A mimic showed up and tried to make up a _scenario_ in which Serenade was deleted by the Sharo Army and Slur would avenge him by taking out the Sharo Army." He summed up.

"Sounds like they greatly underestimated Serenade."

"Sure did. They're but mice, Dr. Cossack. And Slur says they can be told apart with ease so… The problem will be the real deal."

"Yes… The real deal…"

"Oh well. I'm going to tune into some M &amp; F."

"Guess I'll stick around. I need something else to keep my mind clear and since I don't need to go to the college until 4 PM…"

"… V! B! N! On Air! Part 2 of "The Nightmare"! Start!"

"… "Alright: tell them about your latest piece of junk, you lil…!"… Mr. Super slaps Bacterio's nape out of annoyance! "Hey! I wanna do that too!"… M is about to join with a boxing glove!"

"Oho. Boxing?"

"M has a grudge with Bacterio 'cause he worked for him and Bacterio tried an "anti-baldness lotion" on him… And he lost all of his hair! "Well. It's a machine that uses waves and stuff to achieve happy dreams… But it turns out it makes up horrific NIGHTMARES! And as long as there are residual waves floating around! Those waves have mixed up with the residual grudges of Frederick Krugidoff… That steel claw killer that died when he tried to kill me with a match on the gas plant… Its grudge and hatred materialize inside of those nightmares and will haunt us!"…"

"Whoa. What bad timing."

"…"Point is: if you don't wanna meet the guy then DON'T FALL ASLEEP AT WORK!"… "Fall asleep? Hah! I'm hyper-active!"… "I am, too!"…"

"Yeah. And in the previous chapter M fell asleep twice and F once to begin with." Forte chuckled.

"… "Hey! Morta! Wait a min! I'll tell ya a joke!"… "Devil! That Meléndez rascal!"… "Well. A guy takes the dog out for a stroll… Or was it a monkey…? No, it was a pig! Yeah! A pig! Wait! Wasn't strolling… Tramcar? Hi-speed train? Which was it? Well. The guy… Or was it the wife of a tobacco store owner? No, I think that…!"… "ZZZZZ!"… "Well. Looks like you didn't like it. PSCHE! People sans humor!"… This guy takes so long to remember what the joke is about that people fall asleep from the boredom!" Video Man chuckled.

"Shah, shah, shah!" Needle Man chuckled next.

"_Marchando_! And it's begun… The nightmare~… Heh, heh. Heh. Is this what they call "flag retrieval"? When something foreshadowed happens, you know?" Burner Man tried to sound creepy.

"Really… What bad memory for the jokes… Why don't write them down in a paper and read it before saying them? Then again this is a crazy humor comic book…" Dr. Cossack wondered.

"… M walks into a creepy and dirty forest imaging himself as the Little Red Riding Hood! "The little riding hood goes to see granny!"… "IA~H!"…"

"Whoa! What's happened?"

"Freddy comes out from the garbage! "Dear! What do you use as after-shave lotion? Sulfuric acid?"… "I'm so gonna shave your back!"… Swipes and tears out the clothes so M runs off! "Oigh! How dare ya attack an innocent riding hood? Bully!"… F happens to be in the same place! "This weed is so tall! Can't see where I'm stepping!"… Steps into something! "I know what I stepped into!"… Guess it's something ugly… "Boss! You there? Stop rubbing the soil and run!"… M flies past with a bee disguise! "Run? I only run when I want, moron!"… "IA~H!"…"

"There you have a reason to run!"

"… "I just feel like it! Feel like it! Devil! A cliff! What do we do?"… "Jump with this vine, like Tarzan! "… "No way! It'll slide off my hands!"… Not at all! I tie on your waist and that's it! Ran out of vine…. But now you can jump without fear! Jump!"… "B-b-but! Wait… A MI~N!"… CRONCH! M is so dumb: he tied it around the waist and lower torso and left both ends loose: no wonder it didn't do anything! He should've just tied one end and that was it…" Burner Man laughed.

"He really IS dumb." Dr. Cossack muttered.

"… "I'll have you regret this one! I swear!"… "But, Boss… Since you were down there… Why not climb up the opposite cliff?"… F hits his head against a tree as he realizes it! "Look, look! Like Tarzan! OUA~H!"… CRRACK! Mets a tree head on and hits his body! "UAO~H!"… "And how do I jump? There are no more vines!"… "Easy! Move the elbow backwards!"… "What? Why? IH! IA~H!"… "GRFTHX!"… Turns out the guy was behind him and the fear gives him the energy to run through the air and across the gap! "No need for vines, see?"… "IA~RGH!"… "Devil!"… "The guy crossed! What do we do?"…"

"Good question."

"…"I know, Boss! Did you see the guy's burnt face? He got burnt once so he fears flames as much as the Pantoja's films! Let's pick some dry wood and set fire to them to scare the guy! Pick 'em up! Enough! Let's set fire to them and…!"… Something jumps out!"

"What, what?"

"…"I~H! These are man-eater ants! They ache! My arm! I'm so gonna burn you out next!"… "Calm down, man! You've still got another arm! Not enough? What a black boulder! Must be mourning his wife!"… Turns out it was Freddy who was lying down on the ground! "Dear me!"… "IA~RGH! HYAH, HYAH, HYAH!"… "Help! Mortadelo! Do something!"…"

"This guy never gives up, huh?" Forte rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't seem like he'll do."

"… "I'm on it, Boss! About to achieve a record of 3000 meters in an obstacle course! Wait a minute! I lent Boss 200 pesetas the other day! If they do him in then I won't get them back! Hold on, Boss! I'm so gonna bite the guy!"… Disguises as bat and bits the nape! "CRUNCH!"… "OUWA~H! UA~H! UWA~H!"… Back to the real world and it turns out he's bitten Ofelia's nape! "You BEAST! Moron! I'm so gonna bite ya!"… She chases him with a giant bear-trap! "Man! Bite your navel and say you're trying out the camel's hump!"… "Hey! Ms. Ofelia! Bad mood there? Wait a min: I've got a joke for you!"…"

"Oh heck. Not that guy again." Forte laughed.

"… "Well. A tobacco store owner's wife was going there with a sperm whale and… No, I think it was a polar bear… And the wife… Or was it the wife of a laundry store owner? Wrong! It was a guy from Murcia that…!"… "JROO! PFUA!"… "Bah! Nobody has sense of humor!"…"

"This guy's trouble. The guy alone will ruin it all." Forte rolled his eyes.

"Indeed." Dr. Cossack sighed.

"… "Hum! Good hairstyle. But I'd liked to have flocks over the forehead."… "IA~RGH!"… ZAS! "HYAH, HYAH, HYAH!"… "Help! Save me! It's the Phantom of the Opera!"… "Calm down, fair lady! Both of us have come to help thou!"… "Yes! The Arrogant Don Quijote and the jaco "Rocinante"! Man! Boss! Next time you go solve messes with your second great-great-granny!"… "Hide in this cabin while we take care of the guy!"… "AH! A~H!"… "JA~RGH!"… "

"Already showed up, huh?"

"…"Calm down! This guy won't scratch even 1 millimeter of your epidermis!"… "I dunno 'bout the epidermis but my Melanesian silk dress is ruined!"… "Hide behind us! The guy will have to step over our dead bodies!"… "Hah! And what if he does? AH!"… "HYAH-HAH!"… The guy suddenly shows up from nowhere! "Only one solution left, Boss! The club blow and hit! Hold the guy in place!"… "Gotcha!"… "Beat 'im, beat 'im!"… "Eat vitamin – filled head massage! EAT THIS!"… "OW! OW! OW! OW!"… They all wake up! "Devil!"… "M… Mr. Super!"… "Stupid and vandal act! Acting on the excuse that they didn't realize they hit over and over again their CO and run off. It's believed they're on the poles and…"…"

"Huff. And now they happened to beat up Mr. Super. Well. Can't blame them, really. They though the nightmare was real. And it felt like it on the first place."

"Yes. That's the problem."

"… "I'll FIND YOU! Even if it's the last thing I do on life!"… "Ma'am! Take your buttocks off my face! I'm choking!"… "Rude! Pervert! Rascal!"… "You two be quiet and stop acting the camel! He's coming close!"… Mr. Super searches them in the desert while they hide inside of a camel disguise's hump!"… This is the end of the first chapter which we've split into 2 parts… So!"

"Shah, shah, shah!"

"V! B! N! Off Air!"

"Well. Looks like it'll be fun." Forte shrugged.

"Sorry I took so long. I had to go shoot down some rumors that those fools had begun to spread… Do not worry, Forte, because they do not involve you at all." Serenade walked back in.

"Did you manage to convince Slur?"

"Not at all. As stubborn as usual."

"Stubborn folk…" Dr. Cossack sighed.

"Indeed." Serenade sighed.

"So… What can we do?"

"For the time being… Wait for them to make a move. Slur believes they will soon run out of these mimics and then they will move into the real deal… They are able to hide from all kind of searches and investigations and it would seem that no intelligence agency has heard their name before as well."

"Well. They gotta be the type that has patience and is ready to wait all the years it takes…" Dr. Cossack mumbled.

"Surely…"

"Huh? The phone. Wait a minute… Yes, it's me. Oh, Dimitri… What? Someone broke into my college office? Nothing's missing? Did you check if the college PC was accessed? No? Hmmm…"

"A good hacker can erase access traces…" Serenade muttered.

"Could it be related?" Forte asked.

"Could be. They broke into some archive and stole some report that is very inconvenient, according to Slur."

"What about security, Dimitri? Cameras and alarms and all? What? The security manager was drugged? And all records erased? Damn it. This looks ugly. Don't say a word to anyone else! Least I want is the press making a fuss over it." He ordered.

"What could they hope to find?"

"Maybe they think there are notes about programs or projects… Or about you, Forte…"

"So that they can counter my power, huh?" He grumbled.

"Could be."

"Damned rascals. I feel annoyed already. I'd had a fun time with the comic and now this."

"Sorry."

"Don't mind, Serenade. You're not to blame." Forte sighed.

"… Luckily I only kept college-related data in that computer. There shouldn't be anything important. And it's not connected to my home PC either." Dr. Cossack told them after he finished the call.

"Hum. Maybe they ended up going back with the tail between legs because they failed on their goal."

"Let's hope this is the case."

"Huff. I'll go watch some Yu-Gi-Oh! MAD videos at Nico Nico and vent off my bad mood there."

Serenade nodded at Dr. Cossack as if transmitting an unspoken message: Forte didn't notice.

"Careful now. We do not know what they will do next."

"… Hmmm… I think I'll go watch a _Wario Land 3_ gameplay… Yeah… It's a fun game, after all… And the concept isn't bad: a world contained inside of a music box…" Forte was muttering close by.

"Interesting."

"And, of course… Wario's only searching for those 5 music boxes because he'll be able to keep all treasures he finds along the way. Wario is anti-hero, after all! Is only interested in treasures… And in power… Seeing how he stole Mario's castle on his debut game… _Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins_… Cousin brawl!" Forte was getting amused.

"Well. He seems to be able to easily switch to a better mood."

"That's the good part. There's so much humor out there nowadays that it's easy to get distracted." Dr. Cossack told Serenade with a smile.

"Indeed…"

_Shadow Nova… We shall not let you do as you like. I will stop you! You shall not stain this child's purity!_

16:56 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… Prince? How unusual for you to be at the pier, sir."

"Huh? Ernst. Well yeah. I felt like it."

"Are you concerned?"

"Of course I am. Those guys are dangerous."

"Speaking of which… Eisei just told me he stumbled upon another of them named Delta the 13th who was impersonating Punk and robbing a store: he beat the guy."

"Fine. Let's get rid of the rubbish and force them to show what they really can do."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Of course it is. But sometimes danger is inevitable. And maybe it takes just one step to destroy them."

Ernst walked down a short concrete pier set in the coast of a small island that had a mountain about 20 to 30 meters tall standing on the midst of it: some palm trees could also be seen there.

There was a man sitting on the edge of the pier and looking out at the sea as if to vent off their bad mood.

This man was about a meter and eighty tall or taller and he seemed to be on his 20s given what could be seen of his face: he wore armor and helmet over his body.

The helmet design was compact and thick: it included silver plating around the neck and its base, a main purple and black coloring, black shades and a green symbol which looked like a unicursal hexagram colored pale green and having some unknown runes written on its circular edge painted on the forehead.

He wore some curious armor over his body: it was colored with purple tones on the outer edges but black on the center: the same forehead emblem was set on the middle of his chest.

His shoulders were black ellipsoids with purple-colored outer edges and having some other green fluorescent runic symbols drawn over them: his arms "skin" was black in color.

The armor over the forearms had an external golden rim from which three parallel golden lines extended until the fingertips.

The feet armor started at the knees and used a tint of purple for the outer edges but the main armor kept on using the black motif: silver-colored lines extended parallel to each other until the feet fingertips.

The unarmored body "skin" was also black in color and had intricate green fluorescent patterns running down its sides, front and rear.

"Hum. So some have come out already. Greek Alphabet has 24 characters. We're pending… Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Rho, Sigma, Upsilon, Chi, Psi and Omega… 16 of them: only 8 have come out insofar. This could take a while." The "Prince" muttered.

"Hum. It gave off the impression more had come out because they came out in a row but it wasn't the case. Only one third have come out as of today…" Ernst muttered.

"… Yo. _Danna_. Nice day, isn't it?"

"Huh? Umisama?"

A member of Shunoros walked towards them at a quick pace.

This guy, Umisama, had dyed his hair blue although some small patches of the original brown could be spotted there and there: his eyes' irises were blue.

He wore a t-shirt with the words "Hokkaido" and a drawing of Sapporo City's main avenue: he sported jeans and blue-stripped and white sneakers.

He looked smug for some reason or another.

"I thought it was a nice day… to die!"

He suddenly drew a Beretta automatic gun and began to shoot at Ernst and the "Prince" but the "Prine" suddenly jumped into the air and landed in front of Ernst: a white shield with an odd drawing on the center of its body formed out of nowhere and bounced off all bullets without any trouble.

"The Aristeros Shield will block any feeble attacks. Ernst! IR!"

"Roger, sir! It's an imposter, sir!" Ernst drew his PET and scanned "Umisama" with it.

"Hmpf. Thought as much. The speaking manner didn't resemble Umisama's at all. Come! Dexia Sword!"

A blade colored white, having a golden hilt and the same emblem on the hilt's center formed out of nowhere and he gripped it with the right hand while the left hand held the shield on place: he ran forward and the imposter suddenly drew a Stringer missile launcher but didn't have enough time to press the trigger because the Prince was already in front of him and he swung the sword to cut the muzzle in half and make the missile inside explode: he then swung the sword horizontally and slit the waist in half: the upper body fell into the ground along with the lower body and they reverted to its standard form of a man-model Normal Navi: the Prince scoffed.

"Rubbish."

"D-damn it…!"

"Underestimating me, Kuroban Howsad, was the first and last mistake you did, pawn."

"Shit! I, Iota the 13th, am supposed to be invincible!"

"That's the fantasy they feed you lot with so that you charge at us in a suicide manner and they get the data they want while getting rid of you at the same time. 9 beaten. 15 left."

"Gruh…! But my brethen… Will wipe you lot out…! And then we will laugh! He who laughts last laughs better!"

"Hmpf. Even if the 15 of them were to come at once… They won't be able to stand up to the strength of us… The 9 of us…" Kuroban scoffed.

"Gruh…! Farewell!"

The Navi self-destructed and only the legs were left behind: Ernst sighed in relief and they suddenly heard a group of chuckles and giggles coming from higher up: they looked up and saw a black helicopter hovering over the island: several silhouettes jumped down.

"Men! Gather at the beach in DH form! We're being invaded by the enemy!" Kuroban ordered through the radio.

"Roger!"

"Denpa – Henkan! Ernst Stroger, On Air!"

Ernst drew his PET and inputted some commands: light began to emit from it and split into eight beams as a sphere expanded: it grew bigger than him: the light then died down and he'd become End Angel: he drew his blade.

"Here we are!"

The rest of the members (6 of them) appeared them thus making a total of 8 of them.

"Huh? Where's Gray?" Kuroban asked.

"He said he had something to take care of." Evil Corvus explained.

"How odd. Bah. What matters is… These guys."

"I'm Sigma the 13th!"

"Hah! Upsilon the 13th!

"Psi the 13th!"

"Theta the 13th!"

"Zeta the 13th!"

"Delta the 13th!"

"Lambda the 13th!"

"Mu the 13th!"

"Nu the 13th!"

"8 of them and the one from before make up 9 of them: as expected of cowards." Kuroban was unimpressed.

5 of the attackers were men-model Normal Navis and the other 4 were women-model Normal Navis: they all had a Long Blade and a Mega Cannon equipped along with a helmet-mounted Super Vulcan: the ground underneath them was Holy Panels as well.

"We've been specially powered up by Lord Spiral to annihilate you interlopers! Get ready!" They all announced.

"Go!" Kuroban ordered.

"Sea God's Pressure!"

"Wind Twister!"

"Arcane Blade!"

"Evil Claws!"

"Dash Tackle!"

"Magma Bazooka!"

"Earth Power!"

"Dexia Sword!"

Blue Wave jumped into the sea and filled his deposits: one of the Navis jumped into the sea too and began to shoot both the Super Vulcan and the Mega Cannon: Blue Wave dived to duck and then emerged again to shoot but the attacks were bounced off by an invisible barrier: Fighting Cyclone formed a twisting stream of wind that was bounced off too: End Angel tried to strike the Super Vulcan of another Navi and failed: Evil Corvus swept his claws but nothing happened either: Venomous Wolf tackled and was repelled thus falling into the sea.

"Wha!"

Raging Flame shot a powerful blast from a gun and it rocked the barrier but didn't manage to lay a wound on it: Ruthless Vine made the ground shake and some roots assaulted the enemy from the ground but they were rejected: only Kuroban's Dexia Sword managed to plunge through and shatter the aura of one of them and cut off the right wrist where the Long Blade was equipped at.

"I see. Dream Aura plus Sanctuary combo. But my sword has a breaking ability that allows it to shatter any barrier." Kuroban wasn't surprised by what was going on.

"Devil!" His opponent (a man-model) cursed.

"What do we do?" End Angel asked.

"Easy. I just transferred a couple of Battle Cards that will be helpful to you guys… Use them!" He ordered.

"Hah! Only 2 of them will turn the tide around? Laughable!"

"Super North Wind! Panel Format!"

"E~H!"

The Super North Wind deleted the Dream Auras and the Panel Format got rid of the Sanctuary as well.

"Devil!" They all cursed.

"Let's go! Once again!" Kuroban ordered.

"Sea God's Pressure!"

"Wind Twister!"

"Arcane Blade!"

"Evil Claws!"

"Dash Tackle!"

"Magma Bazooka!"

"Earth Power!"

"Dexia Sword!"

Blue Wave's jets did hit his opponent and easily pierced through her: the body collapsed into the water and then exploded: Fighting Cyclone's attack was dodged by his opponent but Fighting Cyclone then jumped in front of the opponent and delivered a punch to the nose, breaking it and pushing the enemy back: he quickly formed a cyclone and sent them flying to then fall into the pier's right edge: the blow broke the waist in 2 and the lower half fell into the sea while the upper half blew up: End Angel pressed two of the runes on the blade and formed a Sonic Boom that vertically split his foe making them blow up on that instant: Evil Corvus dodged the long-range attacks by flying and then plunged his claws into the chest to close them and pull out the armor exposing the insides: the Navi howled and self-destructed: the close-quarters blast did push Evil Corvus back and inflicted some damage but he remained on his feet nevertheless: Venomous Wolf tackled another and sent them crashing against the mountain: he then jumped and landed atop the chest with the feet thus using the claws there to tear through the armor and blow up the core: Raging Flame shot and the recoil pushed him back while the blast immediately melted the armor and overheated the Navi: it blew up.

"Hra~h!"

"Ugroh!"

"Hah!"

"Grawh!"

Kuroban ran towards the last survivor and cut off the right leg below the hip: the roots then pulled the opponent into the ground and began to dive and emerge from the ground while forming a pattern and thus immobilizing the opponent into the ground: Kuroban cut off the head and nothing happened.

"How odd." Rutheless Vine muttered.

"Mine got split in half and blew up nevertheless." End Angel frowned.

"But that's because you hit the core, Ernst. I didn't. And since it hasn't received any damage then it isn't blowing up. This is a chance: let's leave it running for a while and the automatic shut-down will trigger." Kuroban replied.

"What about the…? Ah! It's gone!" End Angel looked up: the chopper was gone.

"So… There were 15 left, we took out 9… 6 left!" Evil Corvus sighed in relief.

"Cheats and power don't ensure victory." Kuroban muttered.

"Eh…" End Angel began to argue.

"… Fine. I'm not fitting to say that." He admitted with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't mind it, Ernst. You made a good point. Cancel battle formation and rest."

"Alright."

Everyone save End Angel and Kuroban headed back inside of the mountain (through two open armored doors built on the front of it: End Angel released the "Denpa – Henkan" and resumed his normal appearance as Ernst.

"Let's bring the head to my room and download all of its data onto my PC to analyze it. It might bring upon some clue."

"Roger. What about the body?"

"Bah. It's got nothing worth. Let's trigger its self-destruct so that they think they've gotten away with it. Hah!"

Kuroban simply plunged the sword into the chest and triggered the self-destruct: he then looked at the head which remained unchanging: he headed inside of the base followed by Ernst and climbed up some stone stairs to come out into a curved corridor: he opened a couple of black armored doors with torches on the sides and entered a room.

"Here."

The rom had a stone-made platform with a bare throne built on it: a nearby desk had a laptop placed there.

"Let's begin."

"Alright."

"I'll make a list of the opponents left… Rho, Epsilon, Kappa, Pi, Chi and Xi… We know there's a rascal named "Spiral" that seems to be the guy giving orders to this lot." Kuroban muttered

He'd opened the Copy Roid's head and extracted a component labelled "FLASH MEMORY 250GB" which he connected to the PC taking profit that it was in the shape of a Flash Memory Card.

"Hah. There's no password or anything to begin with. They surely thought it would be impossible to retrieve in the first place."

"Hum. There's a capsule having acid sulfuric here too. That was close: hadn't it shut down immediately it might've triggered an emergency order to release this acid and corrode the systems to impede any data retrieval…" Ernst reported.

"Sulfuric acid in the brain… Talk about sadistic and cruel." Kuroban didn't show too much surprise.

"Any luck, sir?"

"Insofar… The list with the Greek names… Some of it is corrupt because it was being updated as each unit was being destroyed… Other files include list of targets… This one has our battle names and civilian names. It'd seem they managed to do some research because not even the Cyber CID knows all of them. Proof is that Blues didn't know who Kisei was when you talked to him the previous day."

"I see."

"Huh? Ah! Well, well. Let Devil bite me. "Shadow Nova Oaths"…"

"Sounds like a sect, even."

"Yeah. Sure does… "1: Lord Void is supreme, grand and perfect. Only the Grand Master that lies beyond the Void is above His Excellence. Lord Void is the gatekeeper of the Void, where the Grand Master rests in eternal slumber. 2: Lord Spiral, being the right arm of Lord Void, is the Operational Commander. All orders by Lord Spiral are absolute. 3: Your body will never fall into the enemy's hands. "Death will save us, but not this one". Be loyal to these words. 4: You are one of the Unlucky Greeks, who shall bring misfortune and disgrace to our foes. You are invincible and you will destroy your enemy. 5: You are a Mimic. You will assume anyone's shape and destroy their reputation, lead them to disgrace! Your targets will be taken custody of by the Special Unit assigned to each of you. 6: Your enemies are weak. Destroy them in one blow."… That's all."

"Special Unit? Sounds like a lie."

"Hmpf. Yeah. It surely is. It must be to make them feel confident no – one will see through them and thus motivate them to put up some perfect acting… Given how they were being feed with this load of crap it's no wonder they charged at us like that."

"But the first part picks me… If "Void" is the leader… Does it mean there's someone above the rascal, someone smarter?"

"Hmmm… But "eternal slumber" seems to suggest that that someone's dead: guess it was the mentor or the founder and they've decided to make an icon out of the man … Reminds me of MGS and how the Patriots aimed to turn Big Boss into an icon after his death, an icon that wasn't alive and wasn't dead either." Kuroban analyzed.

"Ah. Now it makes sense."

"Well. Point is… "Void" is the leader and "Spiral" the enforcer. If we take those 2 out then the org will crumble apart. Problem will be figuring out where they are. The memory insofar doesn't include any coordinates because they were brought here with a chopper… Maybe that very same "Spiral" was piloting it… I'm trying to access the memory files and playback them…"

"Let's try."

"Here! Recorded 9 minutes ago… Playback!"

A window opened and showed FPS (First Person View) of the insides of a chopper: a tall man (about a meter and ninety) was giving out orders to the group.

This man, from what it could be seen, wore camouflage uniform, a utility belt and boots.

Their face was hidden by a purple handkerchief that reached until the nose and a little black mask over his eyes similar to those used in classical plays: they also wore a camouflage cap.

"I see. So he took precautions. But from the shape of the face and the body… 30s. At the least. Maybe 40s, even." Kuroban calmly muttered while rubbing his chin.

"One of your comrades has gone on ahead. I'll try it out a different strategy through them. If it fails then you get down and annihilate them."

"Lord Spiral? The signature is gone, sir." One of the pilots called out.

"Hum. I see. Go! Crush them!"

"Glory to Shadow Nova!"

"Hmpf. Alright. So there were 2 pilots and this guy. Let's send this imagery to the Net Police Cyber CID and they'll spread it across the world: let's put up an attractive bounty and that should lure some informers or sources that could give us some hint." Kuroban snickered.

"Excellent, sir… HUH? Who's there?"

Ernst suddenly ran off into the corridor and looked around but saw no – one and nothing.

"I'm sorry, sir. Paranoia."

"Don't mind it. Let's see if there's anything else to retrieve."

It turned out that Ernst was right and the white figure was standing in the corridor behind the open right door and remaining silent…

20:31 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Man! I'm beaten."

"Me too… Hunting for clues and in the end the only thing we found was a drunkard who claimed that he'd seen a ghost…"

"I had the hunch from the start that things wouldn't go so easily but to think they would be SO hard…"

"I know, Oscar – kun…"

"Oh well. Any news, Alex?"

"Nothing… of public knowledge, that is."

A member of Golden Star and his Navi were chatting as they walked across the deck: night had already come and both sounded pretty much tired by now.

"Whatever. I just wanna have a warm shower and go sleep: I don't feel hungry to begin with. All this waste of time and energies stole away my hunger, even."

"Ah. Welcome back, Atarasei."

"Hiya, Cosmo Man… I'm beaten."

Atarasei Oscar, the Operator, had jet black hair which was a wild flock which knew no order or pattern and extended until the base of his neck, even.

His eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

He could be around Kage's age and had the same approximate height too: his body was thin, athletic, and had good build to it which was proof of his apparently continuous exercises.

He sported a navy blue overcoat over a greenish t-shirt, a pair of navy blue jeans tightened with a black leather belt: a pair of thin socks covered his feet and he used black sneakers for footing.

"What about you, Alex?"

"Same thing… We spent 4 hours hunting around and found that no – one had ever heard of these guys before. There was a drunkard who claimed that he knew and demanded insurance and money but some pressure was enough to have him confess he'd seen a ghost. Then again it was a drunkard so… The guy was seeing things. Surely wanted more money."

Alex had a helmet which had a golden-colored "Alpha" drawing set on its forehead: the helmet was colored in an azure color with golden bands circling the ear-pads and the edges of the helmet: some azure hair popped out from behind the helmet and stretched until the base of the neck.

His face was shaped to look like that of a guy on his late teens: his eyes' irises were azure and he had an air of "elegancy" to him.

His chest armor had a silver vest built over its surface which appealed as being a layer of extra armor and which ended at the height of the chest emblem: the emblem had a bronze-colored edge and its inner color was platinum: it contained the "alpha" symbol on its very center.

His shoulders were covered in sturdy black armor from which some yellow-colored lines originated to travel down the arms' length: his forearm armor only encompassed the forearm and not the elbow to seemingly allow for further movement.

Four red circling bands spiraled around its length and ended at the knuckles of his fingers: both arms' color was navy blue yet the forearms and fingers' choice of color palette was sky blue.

His legs' knee protections had been painted white but they had diamond-colored circles varying in diameter set on them: three circles in total spread from the centermost point of the knee protection.

The boots had three pearl-colored bands circling the upper edge, the ankle, and the start of the toe fingers: their general color kept on being navy blue.

"Hum. I see. Good job, nevertheless."

"We're gonna go report to the Boss… Fua~h…" Atarasei stretched and groaned.

"Don't bother, Oscar – kun. I'll do it."

"Owe ya one…"

"Don't mind it. Go on ahead to the room."

"Yeah. See ya, Cosmo Man."

"Don't push yourself, either. We need to be on top shape for whatever's to come in the next days."

"OK…"

"Good evening."

Both of them went down with the elevator and stepped into the cafeteria: Zarashe and Ikada were playing domino while Tozukana was looking at a live tennis match being displayed on the TV (mounted on the left wall): Ms. Secretary was also sitting on one table and watching the match: Dark Man was whistling a tune and it looked like the kitchen was working: Atarasei and Alex walked past and stopped in front of their room next to Leon's room.

"Password… OK…"

The door opened and both stepped in, with Alex locking the door behind him: Atarasei took out the sunglasses to reveal that he had brown eye irises: he left the sunglasses atop a small desk and took off the coat: he stretched and yawned.

"I'm going to report. You go have the shower and relax." Alex insisted.

"Yeah. Sure."

Alex came out and Atarasei picked black pajamas from underneath the pillow before undressing and heading for the bathroom: he stepped in and locked the door from the inside: he stopped in front of the mirror and took out a couple of contact lenses he had: it turned out his irises' real color was red instead: he stored the lenses on their case and then stepped into the shower: he whistled a tune as he waited for the water to heat up and looked around.

_Eh… Now's October, 2012 so… I've been on GS for 1 year and 8 months already… In another 4 months it'll become 2 years… Feels like a long time ago, even… I feel like I lack motivation as of late… Beating Laser Man to a pulp isn't enough… And now these "Shadow Nova" rascals who must think they'll rule the world and all that crap… Let's bust them! If only they were as weak as the Crimson Lobby… Ah! Whatever. Let's see if I can convince _Noir _to set up a party… I need something exciting that makes my soul burn… Heh! Napalm Man will yell that I stole his motto! Oh well. I still wonder why they won't tell us who "XY" is… All of a sudden they told us he's just a solo Navi who wants to experiment on how former "evil" Navis use their brains and if they can overcome their "ego" and all… _

He finished cleansing and showering so he stepped out and dried with a towel before putting on the pajamas and going back into his room: he sat on the bed and stretched.

_Oh yeah! I feel so relaxed now. Nothing beats a good shower after a laborious afternoon! _

"I'm back. The Boss says we did a good job."

"OK… By the way…"

"What?"

"Did you visit your _ane – ue – sama_~?" He teased.

"Sheesh. Stop making _Golden Sun _jokes."

"I'm gonna do _Silver Moon_ jokes!" He laughed.

"Hah, hah. How original of you."

"Imagine, man! _Imagine_~!"

"Yeah. What?"

"Your wife! Sandra – sama~!"

"Sandra already sticks around with Beta X." He shrugged.

"What about Akemi?"

"Akemi? No way." He gasped.

"Heh, heh. Guess that's the answer!"

"Oh come on. Leave me alone."

"Beware! The attack of the guys who weren't guys and the guys who are guys and who were guys and who will be guys!" He made up some lame tongue-twister on the spot.

"Alfred again…?" He groaned.

"Yessir! Ready to offer some _burritos_ to his Cuban buddies! And get lots of coconuts in exchange! Like how Fidel Castro wanted to the war on Choina's side confident that they'd win and buy him tons of coconuts to become a millionaire!" He laughed.

"You mean the M &amp; F story titled "Bye-Bye, Hong – Kong!"…" Alex sighed.

"Indeed! "Well! Let's get down to business! What do you know about Hong – Kong?"… "Heh! A lot! I was the village champion! And we used a raw potato!"… "HONG – KONG! NOT PING – PONG!"… "Well, well! Anyone can make a mistake!"…"

"Yeah. I know. M and his deafness."

"Heh, heh! Beware! It's the advent of the fellows enchanted by equally fellows of fellows!"

"Sheesh."

"I drive ya mad, eh?" He chuckled.

"You sure do. Satisfied?"

"Maybe yea maybe nay, Watson."

"And now you're Holmes?"

"More like Sam Merton!"

"Oh come on. Sam Merton was but Count Sylvius' henchman: a mere thug and nothing special…" Alex sighed.

"It had to be special, else Superintendent Oda wouldn't have created Uncle Merton!"

"Oh come on."

"Can't be helped! He wanted someone apart from Moran or Moriarty so he chose Merton because it stars with "M" too! As is… Mega Mexican of Mexican Mega Guys!" He laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to chat with Beta and the others to see what's happened in the meanwhile so... Good night." He tried to cut the topic right there while rolling his eyes.

Alex came out and Atarasei chuckled under his breath: he climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over his body while he looked at the ceiling: he seemed to be thinking of another joke given his face.

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh well. Tomorrow will be a better day for sure! And let's tease Alex a bit more!"

_Alex…! You're so fun to tease, man! I can't have enough of that! Heh, heh, heh! Let's think of some fun jokes for the next time as well!_

"Hey! Alex! Got a new one! The Bronze World!" He announced aloud only to realize Alex wasn't there.

_Oh man. Who do I tell now? I know! Let's tell _Noir.

He picked his PET and dialed a number: _Noir_ showed up.

"Hi there, Oscar – kun. What's up?"

"I've patented the _Bronze World_!"

"Huh… Congratulations… I think?" He wasn't sure how to reply to that.

"Heh, heh! I needed to say it before going to nap. See ya and beware of Alfred's Mexican Quartet!"

"Oh boy…" _Noir_ sighed.

_Heh! The guy got caught with the guard down. Talk about funny! He wasn't even sure how to reply! Oh well! Time to nap, my fellow! Heh, heh!_


	8. Chapter 8: Intonations of gray

**Chapter 8: Intonations of gray**

07:18 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday October the 12th…

"… So this is the place… Took some effort to find it… I know I should've told _aibou_ but… I'm not sure if my transmissions could be detected… These guys are careful but not enough… Or is that my impression? A trap…? Hmpf… I won't run away like a coward…"

A guy was hiding between some stacked boxes near a warehouse somewhere one foggy morning and muttering as they stared at the looming warehouse.

"Eisei Aaron ain't gonna run away like a neophyte…!"

Eisei Aaron s approximate age was 16 or 17: his face had a smooth form to it yet his eyes' irises were blood red and his nose had a slightly sharpened form.

His green hair was totally messy and grew until the base of the neck while having a purple-colored plastic piece forming an arch starting over the ears and extending backwards but which didn't contribute to keep the shape but rather seemed to be an accessory to appeal as "cool" and fashionable.

His clothing was something rather new and innovative too and seemed to be self-made.

To begin with: his shirt's color was a shade of bright gray and it had a partial vest integrated with it colored using two shades of purple, one brighter and one less bright.

The brighter bands of purple ran across the sleeves starting atop the shoulders and extended until the wrists while also drawing an external edge for the partial torso-only vest.

This vest started at the neck and shoulders but only reached until a third across the height of the upper body.

Seen from the front it had a form reminiscent of the Alphabet character "U" turned downwards by 180 degrees.

His vest also was innovative in the fact that it included two small yellow squares with what could plastic clips colored orange/red attached to their lower end from below.

His pants were plain and didn't stand out too much save for their purplish coloring and the gray knee protections.

He wore fingerless grayish gloves over his hands as well.

The sneakers, however, were designed to incorporated gray soils into them while the main body was white in color: their design was plain and had no Velcro straps or strings plus a thin yellow stripe running across it climbing upwards as seen from the front edge to then climb downwards.

He lastly carried his silver and purple-colored Link PET.

"Alright… It's all or nothing…"

He came out of his hiding and crouched to then enter through an air duct that lacked its cover: he noiselessly slid inside and dragged his body through it: he finally reached the end of it and emerged into a small room piled with worn down and empty cardboard boxes of all sizes and colors: he stood up and stretched before silently heading for the door and gluing his ears to the wall.

_Too silent. They don't use it often? Nobody's home? Or are they inviting me inside…? Guess the latter. Whatever. I'm not going to be that impressed to begin with. _

He slowly turned the doorknob and stepped out into the main wing: he gasped since it'd been reconverted into a small prison with cells extending across the length of it: this room was on the NE corner and wasn't a cell and the NW room had the "CONTROL ROOM" banner: he silently crossed the corridor (taking profit that the overhead lights of the warehouse were off) and entered the control room: there was a console with a hologram display device that showed security cameras' footage: he began to study them and counted them.

"Let's see… Out of 16 cells only 1 is being used… What! Sieg! Damn it: these bastards…!"

He gasped when he spotted that one of the prisoners of the cell was a guy who could be around Leon's height and age: his face shape was very similar to his as well.

His white hair was way more uncared for than Leon's.

He looked asleep or fainted.

"And the other one…? Urateido!"

Urateido had blackish hair which was combed in a neat manner and it extended until the base of the neck.

He also looked asleep or fainted.

"… Is it really them…? Or is it a trap…? Well. If it turns out to be the weaklings that attacked our base the other day then I alone should be able to take them out… Let's go." He muttered.

He came out and ran down the corridor: all other cells were currently empty but several had blood stains and wall writing on their walls: he ignored them and reached the cell in question: it had a card reader and a card was needed to unlock it.

"Whatever. I'll just hack it."

He drew a screwdriver and unscrewed the machine's cover: he spotted that there was a small button labelled "EMERGENCY UNLOCKING" so he pressed it and the door unlocked: he stepped in to see that both guys were lying face-up on the beds and were butt naked: they each had those bracelets Kisei had been attached the other day and they were orange in color.

"… Hey. Guys. It's me."

"… Eisei?"

"That you?"

"… Yeah. By the way… What's Kyutora?" He suddenly asked them.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"… Alright. Enough acting. It's you guys, the Unlucky Greeks. Fight me if you've got the damned guts."

"… Heh, heh, heh… You fool…"

"You walked into the trap…"

"I knew it was a trap. But I ain't a coward."

The fake guys stood up and reverted to their normal Navi forms while drawing Elec Swords: Eisei was unimpressed and he merely drew his PET while glancing over his shoulder just in case.

"I'm Rho the 13th!"

"And I'm Kappa the 13th!"

"Fine. Denpa – Henkan! Eisei Aaron, On Air!"

The energy was released from the PET and both merely took a step backwards as Eisei's Denpa – Henkan form was revealed.

"I, Gray Thunderbolt, will fight you lot!"

"Hmpf!"

Gray Thunderbolt had a largely customized design which deviated from the norm the others followed.

His face's skin color was of a dull olive green – like coloring and a faint black and thin line drawing of an electrical current's spectrum shaped like a triangle formed on the SW and SE corners of his face and climbed past the note until they ended slightly beneath the forehead's helmet edge.

His eyes' irises were blood red in color.

His hair was orange-colored and spread out from behind the helmet in a wild flock manner reaching until the base of his neck.

The helmet's design was peculiar: it had a form seemingly made out of a spheroid's upper half and its main color was gray.

The center of it had a drawing which could be interpreted as an arrow pointing downwards which also had two small triangles popping out of the sides: it seen from above and looking from north to south it could be a cutaway silhouette of a tree as well: a golden-colored plain horn formed on the middle of the drawing and aimed upwards.

The ear-pads had two parts: they began as simple gray metallic disks attached half-way between the upper helmet and the sides of the rest of the helmet.

A dome-shaped formation sprouted from there and had a small hole cut atop it.

The sides of the helmet included two slightly curved triangles colored orange spanning past the lower jaw by a few centimeters.

His neck was protected by circular gray bands stacked one atop the other with a total of three plus a wider circle at the base of the neck.

Regarding the chest armor, it could be described as simplistic: the color of choice was gray again and the only noticeable things on it were two cavities cut on the center of it shaped after diamonds: they were red on the inside and there was a very thin black line cutting through them spanning half-way across the chest.

His arms were covered by a peculiar golden armor which seemed to reinforce their strength: each shoulder had a soup bowl – like shape along with the cover set over it: a golden horn spread from the center of the cover.

The armor then continued with a slight division drawn half-way the arm located between the shoulder and the elbow: the elbow segment happened to have a circular piece from which a curved fin aiming towards the shoulder emerged: this elbow armor could be divided in four different segments: the first one was a little piece of golden armor in the form of a circle's lower half.

The armor was continued by a set of three half-circular metallic bands that were spreading downwards until the start of the wrist.

A screw bolt's head was set half-way between the lower and upper halves of the elbow armor: a black cross was drawn on it (or rather the grooves where a screw driver would be set at) and a straight black line travelled forward from the eastern edge until the wrist.

The last part of the complicated elbow armor included the aforementioned fin.

A small segment of golden armor covered the little space between the elbow and the wrist.

The wrist and part of the hand were encompassed by one featureless metallic black circle from which his usual five fingers (covered in golden "skin") came out.

The body below the chest armor was rather plain: a central vertical stripe which contained the helmet's pattern towards the end as it reached the waist spot: it was painted gray expect on the outer edges where the color switched to purple and ran down the sides of the body including the inner surface of the legs: the outer surface was colored gray too.

His peculiar boots began just at the knee's height and had a customized design which looked like some attempt at being "futuristic" for some reason or another: their color was gray.

The reason why his boots looked peculiar was because they had a descending triangle-shaped ramp running until the ankles and with three golden buttons set in a vertical manner one atop the other near the end of the piece.

The ankles' armor was built in the manner of three purple trapezes set one over the other: the soil of the boots was also designed to have a trapeze form and painted gray.

There was something which looked a recent addition, though, and that was an emblem on the forehead: gray-colored spheroid of energy with thunderbolts emerging from it and aiming for all eight cardinal directions: its rim was painted in a black color as well.

"Hah, hah! Eat this!" An eager voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Hmpf! I knew it. There was someone behind me. I could hear the hum of a Copy Roid engine."

"Shit. Why didn't it work?"

"I'm named Gray THUNDERBOLT. Moron."

"Shit. It's Elec!"

"Who are you?"

"Epsilon the 13th!"

Another man-model Normal Navi had tried to stab an Elec Sword into him from behind but it did nothing: Gray Thunderbolt wasn't surprised and electricity began to form on his arms.

"Heavenly Thunderbolt!"

He formed a gray spheroid of energy and tossed it into the air: thunderbolts began to rain at random around the area and the enemy Navis were trying to dodge them: he used the chance to draw his own Elec Swords and quickly ran forward while keeping them crossed in an "X" shape to suddenly spread his arms left and right and aiming backwards.

"What!"

The forward Navis' heads were cut off and thus their Copy Roids stopped functioning: Gray Thunderbolt quickly turned away and directed a glare that could kill at the remaining Navi who began to step backwards: an electrical discharge was emitted by the Navi before he self-destructed.

"This fool felt fear and wanted to run. Those who succumb to fear are unworthy of the new world order. Thus they die." A voice rang out.

"You're Spiral, aren't you?"

"Correct, Eisei Aaron! I designed this strategy to lure you in with the rumors about this being one of our main bases. I analyzed that you would rather check it out alone and hope to redo your image in front of your leader so that he would acknowledge you are still competent and worthy of being his right arm." "Spiral" calmly explained.

"Hmpf. I knew it: you're the real deal. Those are distractions, easily disposable pawns."

"Indeed!"

"And you're going to use a proxy to fight me, huh?"

"In that you're wrong. I'm different from those _amateurs_. I'll fight you myself… With THIS!"

The north end shutter opened and a large non-human figure walked in while some mechanical sounds rang out.

"Witness! Battle Body System! Codename… "Infinitum"!"

"What!"

The "Battle Body System" was a robot about two meters tall that had the general shape of a man yet it was covered in black armor: instead of a face it had a laser gun mounted there and it also had a Vulcan gun (the real deal) set on the right arm's end plus a chainsaw on the left one: the legs above the knees contained missile launchers which also existed on the shoulders.

"Its power is the real deal! We've tested it against real jets and tanks!"

"Devil." He cursed.

"Consider it an honor… To be turned into pieces by me, Spiral, Lord Void's right arm! Jamming devices: on! No – one will get on the way of this battle, Gray Thunderbolt!" Spiral's voice rang out through a speaker set on the neck.

The machine hummed as the warehouse's AC system turned on and the temperature began to drop all of a sudden: the ground began to water and then it slowly began to freeze so the robot formed slides on its feet and suddenly ignited boosters placed on the back to run for Gray Thunderbolt: he gasped and jumped to the right to dodge and ducked to avoid being hit by the right arm: the robot quickly jumped, spun on the air and shot all of its missiles at Gray Thunderbolt who only had time to deploy a Dream Aura to block them.

"Shit!"

Smoke was generated on contact and it clouded his sight: he heard the sound of the Vulcan gun being shot and dashed for a wall to kick it and be bounced off atop the cells (since they were about 2 meters tall each and there was still space left between their ceilings and the warehouse's ceiling): he heard a noise and the robot suddenly landed to his left while having the chainsaw on: he only had time to throw a Big Bomb at it to momentarily stun it while he flipped and tried to put up some distance.

_Damn. This thing's fast, gotta admit it. Any distraction and I'm gonna be pulverized. Feels like a _Gundam_, even! Or a Metal Gear! And I see why he cooled the place: to avoid overheating. And also to hinder my movements and all because the body reacts badly to cold environments. I can't call for help and I can't warp out of here either. Wait. Maybe by trying to lure it to the north end I can make it destroy the wall or the shutter and be able to escape? Nah, don't think so. The guy's a pro. If he could predict my motives like that he can predict my moves too. Shit. This is BAD. _

"What's wrong? Ran out of ideas?" Spiral taunted.

"You're the one who's copying Liquid Snake! It's you who's run out of ideas!" He tried to taunt.

"And what if?" He was unimpressed.

_Shit. Obviously he won't fall for something so easily. This guy gives the feeling of being former military and all. Maybe former Special Ops of some nation… Danger level: max! No kidding, man!_

"Che… Rocket Knuckles!"

"Hmpf. So you can bite! EM field!"

"Wha?"

The robot suddenly hummed and the Rocket Knuckles (copies of his forearms that flew using a built-in booster) suddenly deviated from their course and ended up flying into the walls of the warehouse: the robot shot forward and loaded up the laser gun.

"Fuck it."

Gray Thunderbolt cursed again and deployed a Curse Shield while he ran away: the laser was bounced by the Curse Shield but the EM field broke it down into smaller lasers that ended up dispersing due to their low power: the missiles began to chase Gray Thunderbolt next so he used a Tornado Battle Chip to trap them in and have them attack each other: he purposely slid across the ice as well and the robot was relentless: it crouched and jumped to land ahead of Gray Thunderbolt and stop him from reaching the north end of the warehouse.

"Nobody will notice the scandal. The walls look simple but have sound-insulating fabric inside. No sound will come out of this building. I replaced all windows for wall as well. The shutters have the same fabric built inside of them too. The ceiling too." Spiral calmly described.

"Huff, huff… Damn it!"

"Feeling the fear? Then you're also a weakling that doesn't have a place in the new world we'll build!"

"You may beat me…! But _aibou_'s another tale! And so are Serenade, Slur, Andy and XY!"

"XY? The ghost? Are they powerful? " He didn't seem too surprised.

"Hmpf! Almost as strong as Slur, even!"

"Hum. Could be annoying. But as long as I have this body then they won't be able to fight back. Once I take some time to properly review the battle data then I'll add the modifications that are necessary to improve Infinitus' battle strength. As for you… I'll bring your head to my Lord in a golden platter! You better have a Will ready, brat! You die here and now: like a weakling! DIE!"

"… Now! Gray… THUNDER!" 

"What?"

Gray Thunderbolt managed to load up energy on both arms and focus it on a growing sphere of energy.

"Hra~h!"

He shot a powerful wide and tall beam of energy straight for the chest: it impacted it fully and bended the armor of it: some fluid began to leak out and the seams of a mobile cover became visible as well.

"Heh! I absorbed up your EM field while you were chatting! And I see why the chest didn't have any weapons… The cooling systems are there and so is the cover of the pilot's cabin! So it can't be as thick as the rest of the body!" He panted.

"Damn it all! To think you could do that…!"

"Huff, huff… You took me lightly! And now… I'll release that EM field which I've been powering up!"

"What!"

"GO~!"

Gray Thunderbolt roared and the lights exploded while an explosion happened on the control room: the robot's guns and body began to move and act at random: its whole body frizzled and Spiral growled.

"At last! Gray! What happened?" Kuroban called out through the radio.

"Well… To put it simple… I found a base of these guys and I've somehow managed to avoid being killed by a Gundam wannabe piloted by that Spiral rascal…"

"What!"

"Grrrr! Fine! The robot won't do what I say and it'd seem most systems are burnt out as well! But I'll be back! Flash Escape!"

"Oho! Not so fast! Mirror – chan!"

There was the blinding flash but Gray Thunderbolt formed a mirror to reflect it at the robot as it warped out of the spot: he sighed in relief.

"Going there now!"

He didn't see the white figure looking from a steel beam higher up…

08:39 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Well. Nothing like a hot coffee cup to begin the day. Any news, Victor, my fellow?"

"Well, Holmes, it'd seem that there was some ruckus at a warehouse in Yokohama… Details are scant at the moment, Joel – kun."

"Hum. I see."

"Hey. Agoras. Morning."

"Good morning, Takehara – kun."

"See ya at the classroom!"

"Indeed."

A guy had been enjoying a hot coffee cup in a cafeteria's terrace: this cafeteria seemed to be part of a college's campus.

This guy, Agoras, appealed to be close to 20 years of age and having a height of about meter and eighty centimeters.

His hair's color was a bright brown one and it was rather messy and forming flocks there and there while a pair of reading glasses hid his eyes: he had a creepy smile across his face.

His choice of clothing happened to be a white shirt with a collar having four buttons on it plus a teal brown coat over it which was open in the middle: he finished the set with a pair of grayish wool pants and simplistic brown shoes.

"Ah. Mail from Legato – dono…"

"My, my. What is it?"

"It'd seem that the Yokohama thing is related to Shadow Nova…"

"Hum. I see."

Victor, his Navi, was projecting through the PET's holographic display since the PET was placed on the table atop a book about chemistry.

Victor appeared to be pretty tall.

His helmet's surface was covered in a grid of brown tiles separated by black lines and columns.

A bright yellowish jewel had been set on the center of the forehead: the ear-pads had his initial, the Alphabet "V" letter colored golden, drawn over them.

Blue transparent shades were installed over his eyes the irises of which were brown: his face had a smooth look to it and could even be considered attractive as seen from the sides.

His main body had that same pattern printed over it and his chest emblem's edge was colored red, green and blue in different percentages while the golden "V" was set against a white background.

His shoulders had eight-pointed stars drawn over them colored red, green and blue at random while his arms also had the grid pattern printed over their skin: the forearms were colored navy blue with dusty brown bands circling around their length.

The legs kept on using the grid pattern over it and the boots happened to have the Alphabet initials "RGB" with each letter printed on their corresponding color, set over them.

Overall he looked like a combination of the three basic colors and a brown grid.

He currently looked calm and unsurprised.

"Oh well. Our fellows will do something about it, I guess." Agoras calmly guessed.

"Yeah. I guess that. It'd seem there are only 3 of those imposters left to beat… But I don't think they'll show up here… We're little known and nobody knows our association…" Victor whispered back.

"Indeed."

"Heh, heh, heh! Found ya!"

"Who…? Oh man! Napalm Man! Don't scare me like that. And don't yell, either. What do you want?" Victor sighed.

"Did ya know?"

"What?"

"Golden Leo's become Super Golden Leo!"

"And what if? Do I need to know that?" Victor questioned.

"Ya never know: it might come in handy! Nih, hih, hih, hih!"

"Burner Man says you can't beat his racing record."

"What! Marchando Man! Wait a min, ya!"

"Phew. Shook him off."

"Another lil bit and our efforts to not to stand out would've been busted by him… Really…" Agoras grumbled.

"Yeah. He can be annoying, truly."

"Oh well. It's 8:50 so I must get on the move."

He finished his coffee and stood up: he picked both the PET and the book and whistled a tune as he headed for one of the campus buildings: he suddenly seemed to frown and turned around, surprised, but only saw other students heading towards their respective classrooms: Agoras was humming a tune and Victor was scanning the area while looking concerned or worried about something: Agoras frowned and began to look around as well.

"That's odd. I had the feeling someone was staring at me since a while ago yet…"

"A fan-girl?" Victor joked.

"How original, Watson." He drily replied.

"You never know, Holmes."

"My paranoia, I guess."

"Guess that."

He shrugged and entered the building: he climbed up the stairs along with some other small groups of 2-3 students that were chatting amongst them: he ignored them and entered the 3rd floor corridor to then head down in and to the left into a classroom: there were 4 rows of seats with desks on them and the teacher's desk was set on a platform to be able to look over the students: a panel to display images through a projector had been set on the furthest wall: Agoras sat down on his seat on the first row (there were 6 seats per row) and opened his textbook while taking out some sheets of paper from inside as well: he wrote the date on the upper left corner.

"See you later." Victor whispered.

"Later."

Victor left the PET and entered the campus' Cyber World: he walked through its avenues and stopped along with other Navis in front of a stand that projected the covers of the main newspapers and was essentially a virtual kiosk.

_As expected: nothing on the printed editions. Maybe tomorrow: guess the digital editions must have something but must lack details. I can ask Beta X later on if he knows anything. _

"Pst! Over here…" Someone whispered.

"Huh?"

Victor spotted a normal Navi (woman-model) waving at him from the entrance of an alley: Victor frowned and looked mistrusting but he followed her nevertheless into a storage room.

"What do you need, Miss?"

"… Your head! Gotcha! I'm Xi the 13th!" The Navi suddenly laughed.

"One of you lot…!"

"Too late! Die!"

She drew a Long Sword and ran for Victor but he merely jumped into the air and flipped to land behind her so the attack failed: he drew Hell's Burner Battle Chip and shot: the flame burst hit her back and she yelped before turning around and running for Victor again: he ducked and dived for the left to roll and dodge while putting some distance between them: the ceiling suddenly broke in an spot and another woman-model jumped inside with a Long Blade drawn.

"I'm Chi the 13th!"

"Chi! This isn't your mission! It's mine!"

"What the heck! It's mine!"

"You two! This is MY mission!"

"Oh come on!"

A third woman-model Navi dropped in having a Wide Blade drawn: the other two fumed.

"Pi the 13th will cut off that weakling's head!"

"Lord Spiral will have your head!" Chi told Pi.

"That's YOU!" Pi countered.

"You gals' heads!" Xi fumed.

"Are you going to fight or discuss?" Victor challenged them.

"DIE~!" They all charged at once.

"Tank Cannon 3!"

"UGRAH!"

The blast from the Tank Cannon sent them flying across the air to then crash against the far wall: Victor didn't mind the recoil from the gun and looked up to see that they all had grave wounds and parts of their armor had been shattered.

"Impossible! We're invincible!"

"That's what you're led to believe. You're no more than suicide corps to begin with." Victor fumed.

"DIE~!"

"Stubborn! Train Arrow 3!"

Victor drew a bow and shot a string of 3 arrows at the central Navi thus piercing through her and causing her to explode: the other 2 didn't mind it and continued their attack.

"Elec Pulse 3!"

"GRAH!"

The wide radius of the Elec Pulse 3 paralyzed and inflicted damage to them: their cores suddenly emitted bursts of energy before blowing up and taking them out: Victor sighed and lowered the weapon.

"So this marks the end of the "Unlucky Greeks"… And the real deal is about to come… At last."

He exited the place and saw that no – one else had noticed the commotion in the first place: he continued his stroll as if nothing had happened to begin with.

_Alright, Shadow Nova… What'll you do next? Hmmm? _

"News, de puku! The Outlanders will beat the Inlanders 5 to 0! Stakes are on the rise, de puku!" Bubble Man was prowling around there and trying to be noticed.

_Oh yes? And what would your info source be? I'm sure you've only come to try to scam some people. I don't see what others saw on you: you did have interesting info years ago but demanded a ridiculously high amount of money in exchange. And you ended up telling it nevertheless. But that attempt to call for attention pretending to be Blues was ridiculous and a stain to his pride. Makes you wonder if he ever found out about it: maybe his enmity for Legato – dono eclipses that to begin with. Oh well. _

"I'm the King of Bubbles! De puku! News, de puku!"

09:35 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Any news, Akemi?"

"According to Beta X… It'd seem something happened in Yokohama but they don't know the details yet. Marta – chan."

"I see."

"Suzuki – san: is everything ready?"

"Ah. Chief! Well. It'll soon be. In 20 minutes I'll do a re-check of the make-up and that's it."

"Good. True. There's still time. I thought it was later. Later!"

"Later, Chief!"

A girl was talking to her Navi while sitting inside of a small office which had a desk and a chair plus an open make-up tools case: the PET was placed atop the desk.

The girl, Suzuki, appealed to be in her late teens and had long brown hair reaching past her shoulders and up until the waist: her eyes' irises were brown too and she had a good profile.

She wore a simple white sleeveless t-shirt with the Empire State drawn into it, jeans and white socks plus a pair of white sneakers.

Her Link PET was colored teal brown and yellow and had the Alphabet "A" character colored golden and set inside of a brownish-edged circle as emblem.

"Huh? Why: it's Victor."

"Agoras – kun's Navi?"

Akemi's main body color was teal brown accompanied by greenish irregular stains across her bodysuit.

Her helmet had the drawing of a flower on the forehead and her eyes' irises were green emerald: her face was smooth and slightly attractive when seen from a profile.

Her forearms and boots had three consecutive greenish rings drawn across them: each ring had some small yellowish stains scattered inside of them at random.

Some greenish hair flowed out from behind her helmet and reached until the shoulders.

She announced that Victor had appeared there and Suzuki was surprised at the fact.

"Yes. It's me. I've come to tell you there's no need to watch out for those mimics anymore: I took the last of them." He told them.

"Phew! I was getting tired of having to use the IR app on everyone I met the whole time… The nerves!" Suzuki sighed in relief.

"Stubborn guys?"

"More like girls. They competed for the glory."

"Classical."

"That's all. I'm going to warn the others. I came in person just in case they were on the look-out for our transmissions."

"OK. See you."

"To bust the time… Let's listen to some comedy."

"M &amp; F, huh? Alright. Here it is."

"V! B! N! On Air! Today… The Nightmare! Chapter 2! Start!"

"… Ms. Ofelia delivers some documents to several agents: she leaves the sheet on the table with strength. "Agent Mondoguíllez: the day's orders!"… "Agent Mortadelo. The day's o… IA~H!"… She gets a needle stabbed into the hand! "S-see… I place the click paper under the nose so that I don't nod and I don't see the nightmare…"… "EAT NEEDLE! EAT STAB! EAT THIS!"… She chases him with a giant fork and M uses a turtle disguise! "Devil! Stab it on your noses and think you're stabbing a Jumbo plane's nose!"… "Hum! No needle! Let's go."… She forgets about him and tries with F next! "Agent Filemón, the day's… IH! A~H!"… ZING! RANG!"

"… What's next?"

"… "BURN! I'm BURNT up!"… She broke some glasses and stabbed a light bulb into the hand! "I… placed a lamp under the glass… It flashes every 10 seconds so that I remain awake…"… "EAT FLASH! EAT THIS!"… "Leave that traffic light alone, man! You look like a signal buoy!"… "BRRR! You should copy me: pick a book and read it to remain awake! This one… Let's see… "Superintendent Vicente's memoir… JZZZZ! ROARRR!"…"

"Is it THAT boring?" Akemi gasped.

"You look at the title and fall asleep: what a great example, ma'am. Truly a great example." Suzuki ironically muttered.

"… "I'm the lil butterfly flying around!"… "Lil butterfly? More like a Pteranodon!"… "Whoa! Looks like it's going to rain! The first drops have come: I'll take shelter on that hut! Hi! Can I take shelter from the rain?"… "HA~H…!"… "Oh my, the owner sings! Must be good-humored!"… CREAK! CREA~K! "Hi~! Hi there~! Whoa! What a nice house! A tight and upright butler!"…"

"Guess it's the contrary and it's supposed to be a horror scenery."

"Sure thing."

"… "IA~H!"… "Hey, fellow! You're one of those modern types, right? Your cutis is a mess! Do you wash it with raisin juice?"… "Ma'am, I…"… "Wait: I've got a regenerative spray! I'll do wonders!"… "Ma… Ma'ma! I've got no eye lids and… IA~H!"… "Whoa! Wrong spray: personal defense was the one I applied!"… "Hey, man! What's up?"… "My eyes are burnin'!"… "No big deal, man!"… "Of course it is! SEE!"… "Cleanse 'em on the sink!"… "YEAH! GRHGJTX! I'm so gonna have that fatty pay back! RA~H!"… "What ugly nails! They should be shorter! I'll trim them in a second: I'm a specialist on that! See! What do you think?"… She trimmed off his fingers as well! "UIA~H!"… "What a yelp! It makes your skin go white! Can't nap: let's see what's going on!"… "GRFTHJKX! KILL! KILL! IA~H!"… "What's up, man?"… "A… RGH!"… CRASH! "GLGLGL!"… A Dracula F wakes up from the coffin and when Freddy trikes to attack him he becomes a bat to dodge and Freddy meets Ms. Column! "Hey! Lil bird! Come, come!"…"

"Dracula version? His evil self." Suzuki joked.

"Truly!" Akemi played the impressed.

"…"Heh, heh, heh! I'm gonna suck out this fatty's blood!"… PLONC! She draws an oven and uses it to smack him! "Dunno if it's a bustard or some exotic bird but it flies! Let's cook it!"… "Gemme outta 'ere! HEY!"… "My! It was a parrot!"… "KILL! KILL! KILL! A~H! KILL!"… Freddy tries to strike Frankenstein monster M from behind but his claws ends up broken! "IAIA~H!"… "Feelin' itchin' in the back… Mosquitoes!"… "My! What a handsome! Reminds me of someone."… "I kill you!"… "You love me? How lucky!"… "N-no! I said "matar" not "amar"! OUIA~H!"… Goes down the spiral stairs! "My! Leaving? How timid!"…"

"Another Spanish pun…" Akemi sighed.

"Sheesh. They look alike a bit but Ofelia must be pretty hard-hearing to mistake them…"

"… Frank curses under his breath! Dracula escapes from the oven! "When I catch that fatty! When I do…! Another target! I'd say about 17 liters of blood! Let's suck! CRUNCH!"… "Feelin' itchin' on nape… Mosquitoes more annoyin' that election ads!"… "These abandoned castles are boring: there's no – one!"… The 3 of them suddenly show up "The lime fatty! I'll give you yet!"… "Fatty threw me off stair! I crush 'em!"… "The fatty that tried to cook me up! Gonna suck your blood!"…"

"Trouble."

"Yeah. As expected."

"… "And now you'll meet the staff, Ms. Minister. Active, worker, untiring workers…!"… "I _see_! Golden medal to _productivity_!"… "JRFFF! RA~H!"… "RONNGG! GJJJ!"… "PJRRR! JFLUA~H!"… "Gotcha! Gonna beat you!"… "Hey, gentlemen, wait! I was first! I'm older!"… "Nope! I see first! I destroy!"… "IA~H!"… "Wake up, you marmots! Wake up! Devil! What are you doing to Ms. Minister?"… "IA~H!"… PLOP! "If that's how you treat us then you're going to hear from us!"…"Horror! Horror!"…"

"Oops." Both girls muttered.

"… "Conspiracy against the government! Two guys and a gal suspected of being Jewish – Masonic or Popular Party or something else, attack Ms. Minister and turn her bones into an unpacked state worse than a cargo carriage. The police is searching them in the Mato-Grosso of Brazil and…"… "Mortadelo! Filemón! Ofelia! We're all sacked! Wait and we'll TALK about it!"… "He's catching up!"… "Faster, you moron!"… "Tell the fatty to get down or I'm going to do a fallen legs strike!"… And thus ends this chapter!"

"V! B! N! Off Air! See you next time… At the GS Nerds! _Ciao_!"

"Oh well. It's 9:48 now so I've still got 7 minutes. As long as everything goes punctually then no problem. My job is valued and that's all I need: it was always my dream to work as make-up assistant in the DNN. Speaking of which… There's a rumor circulating around here, right? What's it about?" Suzuki glanced at her wristwatch while chatting with Akemi.

"That those "Shadow Nova" guys are involved with the Yokohama warehouse of this morning… One of the cameramen dispatched there said that the police was already cordoning the place and thus they aren't allowed to see what's inside… But the fact that the warehouse lacks windows makes it stand as suspicious… And it's said that a powerful EM field was fired there: all electronics on a 15 meter radius are fried and beyond repair." Akemi explained.

"Hmmm… Something tells me Shunoros is involved there. The only one that comes to mind that could generate an EM field is Eisei, the Prince's right hand man…" Suzuki guessed.

"Could be. Guess that once they get confirmation then we'll get the news from the HQ."

"09:50. Good. I'll be on my way to the set."

"OK."

Suzuki picked the case and exited into the corridor: she headed up it and stopped all of a sudden after crossing an open empty office's door: she backed up and looked inside but there was nothing.

"Oh come on. Paranoia." She sighed.

She resumed her walking and reached the back entrance of a set: two newscasters were getting ready for the 10 AM news by going over their papers.

"Excuse me. Make – up."

"Ah! Suzuki – chan. Go ahead." The woman newscaster greeted with a smile.

"I hope I look good." The man newscaster sighed.

"Don't be defeatist, my friend."

"I'll try."

"Alright! We're going to begin the tests!"

"Background: on!"

"Cameras: calibrated! White balance: OK! Lighting is OK too! All green!"

"Emit the screensaver with the countdown!"

"Sound channel 3: high! Ready channels 1 and 2! And number 4 too! 1 and 2 must always be higher than 4 so that the voices are louder than the BGM!"

"Roger!"

"Radios on: be ready to act upon any instructions!"

_The gears are on the move_. Suzuki thought as she looked on from close to the rear exit with some other staff members.

"Later."

"Sure."

She headed back for her office room: she walked past the office room and shrugged her shoulders as if telling herself it was mere paranoid: but she failed to spot the white figure standing on the middle of it with the arms crossed and doing nothing…


	9. Chapter 9: Real deal

**Chapter 9: Real deal**

06: 16 AM (Japan Time), Friday October the 14th…

"… Huff. I can't properly sleep knowing we've got an enemy out there that could strike anytime and anywhere. What's their game, anyway? New world order? Yeah. Sure. Those mimics were SO weak. They weren't worth a cent. So they must have something else… According to Slur they've got that robot thing… Gray Thunderbolt beat it but next time it won't be so easy…"

A young man was strolling the dawn streets of Densan Town while muttering to himself.

He could be around twenty five years old or older.

His hair was white and unkempt given how it formed a bundle aiming for every direction downwards: there was no sense of order in there.

His irises' color was blood red and he currently looked rather serious.

Other traits on his face were red facial marking trailing down his right cheek starting from below his right eye and which was reminiscent of a thunderbolt: two golden earrings evoking some tradition or culture were clipped to his ears.

He wore one custom-made bodysuit the primary color of which was jet black and which was a combination of a sleeveless sweater, a normal sweater and baggy pants which also served as shoes.

The suit also had linear cyan patterns proceeding from around his stomach to the tips of his feet: the sleeves, however, were colored in a dust-like brown colored and ended in orange-colored cuffs.

Woven across the chest was a crest like colored yellow which could be described as two opposing halves of a square with a line climbing down from their SE and SW edges: this line connected with another heading towards the left and then ran diagonally towards the center of the chest.

A small square dot was set in the middle of the space between both parallel and mirrored drawings.

"Hmmm… Solo, my fellow… I've got a bad hunch about this… Let's hope it doesn't escalate into mass murders next or attacks to the citizens."

SCRE~CH!

"Huh?"

He spotted a green Hyundai running north through the same street he was in and circulating faster than what was allowed: Solo gasped and spotted that the road forked into 3 a bit ahead and the straight route led to the City Hall: the car continued speeding and soon the security guards opened fire but missed.

"It can't be!" He gasped.

CRASH! DZINNNGGG! KABOOM!

The car managed to get through the lowered barrier and ran up the flight of stairs leading to the main doors (automatic glass doors): it smashed through them, invaded the hall and suddenly exploded with a bang: the shockwave shattered some windows close by and soon enough all apartments' lights turned on: smoke began to rise from the City Hall entrance: Solo ran towards the spot to have a closer look.

"More, more!"

"Bring another!"

"Damn! The carpet, the desk!"

"Are you sure nobody is inside?"

"Absolutely!"

He spotted the security staff doing what they could to contain the fire with fire extinguishers but it looked like they didn't have enough with that: sirens rang out and 3 police vans arrived: SWAT members jumped down and formed a perimeter while signaling for people to back up: more and more people rushed there and some began to take photos or film with their smart-phones or PETs: Solo remained silent and looked on while glancing around.

_Shadow Nova. Speaking of the devil… So this is the real deal… Terrorism: and they hit the very heart of the city… I'm sure this is their form of setting fear on the citizens… They purposely chose an hour it'd be empty to make it look like it's no big deal but the purpose wasn't to generate victims: their goal is to destroy the feeling of safety. And give way to mass panic!_

He noticed a vibration so he took out a purple PET with his clothes' emblem set on it from inside of his chest pocket: he discreetly slid out of the crowd as the firefighters and ambulances reached the area: some TV crews' vans stopped outside the perimeter too and some radio crew vans did as well: photographers rushed in and began to take photos too.

_In less than 5 minutes this'll be spread like wildfire across the Network and across the globe. If they wanted publicity then they already have it: I'm sure that they'll sure announce authorship of the attack too. Let's figure out who's calling me._

He entered a nearby alley and patched the call in.

"So. You're the famed Solo." A voice calmly told him.

"… You must be "Spiral"."

"Hmpf. So you've heard of me already."

"Slur told me about your Gundam wannabe." He tried to taunt him.

"I'm a lame rip-off." He shrugged.

_Thought as much… Taunts don't work._

"State your purpose." Solo demanded.

"Purpose? I'm merely assessing you."

"You lack data on me and want to avoid something like that of Wednesday." Solo quickly deduced.

"Bravo, Holmes." Spiral taunted.

"Hmpf. And how did you figure out my number?" He wasn't impressed by the taunting attempt.

"Even if we couldn't copy that program we managed to figure out its signature. I've got a scan device I built myself that can catch it up and then intercept the device's output waves. I merely had to track them to the source to figure out your phone number. It's always being relied to the nearest 3G antenna so it's a piece of a cake. You being here is but a coincidence, obviously enough. But you'll do better public than that ignorant lot over there." Spiral dully exposed.

"Hmpf. I'm praised. What can you actually do sans your petty Gundam wannabe? Bark?" Solo tried to taunt him again.

"Who knows?" He merely shrugged.

Solo glanced around and took out a couple of binoculars: he turned on their IR function and spotted a figure about 25 meters away atop a building's rooftop that was also looking over there with a couple of binoculars.

"Hmpf. So you've found me. Whatever. Before you can take a step out of there I'll be gone. _Gone with the wind_." He sneered.

"How _cultured_ of _you_." Solo fumed.

"You're an eyesore. Sooner or later I'll come to take your head and bring it to Lord Void."

"I'm SO afraid. Bring out your machine and I'll make sure to make scrap out of it."

"Boast while you can. Infinitus will be stronger next time. Far much stronger…" Spiral icily warned.

"I'm SO scared."

"Hmpf."

The call ended and there was a sudden flash on Spiral's position that overloaded the binoculars' IR function and Solo had to look away to avoid having his eyes damaged: when he looked back there Spiral was gone so he fumed and pocketed the binoculars: he interacted with the PET and brought up an Internet stream of the DNN.

"… We have just received notification that an organization named "Shadow Nova" claims the authorship for this terrorist attack. Police has been mobilized and it'd seem the SDF is going to look into the matter as well… As you can see, the firefighters are doing their best to contain the fire yet it'd seem it's going to take time and effort." A woman reporter explained: the smoke from the City Hall could be seen behind her.

"Hmmm… I'll go inspect the Cyber World in case there are traces of anything… But I doubt it… If there were Golden Star would've gotten a hold of them… Unless they were disguised… And maybe I can figure out if they've got some new weapon they plan on using from now on or if they've got stuff better than those weaklings… Better go assess that: I don't want to suddenly find myself into a pinch. And even less facing an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. If they've got anything that powerful, that is." He muttered as he rubbed his chin.

He continued down the alley and spotted another side-alley that led to an inner yard of an apartment building: he drew his PET.

"Stealth field: on." He whispered.

He formed a stealth field to hide himself from any viewers and then inputted some commands into the PET.

"Denpa – Henkan. Solo, On Air." He whispered next.

The PET glowed and the "Denpa – Henkan" process was triggered: energy surrounded his body and it soon faded away.

"Burai, on the scene."

Burai had a helmet which had been painted using a black and red color-scheme: it was a partial guard given how it revealed his hair in its entirety: the hair which was flying straight upwards in a wild and chaotic manner.

The helmet also bore a pair of transparent purple shapes having the shape of the Alphabet letter "X" which seemed to be layered across his helmet.

His throat was guarded by a silver neck-guard, somewhat similar to a gorget: his ear-pads were small greenish domes.

He wore a smooth and plain black cat suit which began at his jaw line with his suit's emblem colored in a crimson red color: the catsuit ran uninterrupted along each limb until reaching the elbows and knees.

Starting from those spots, and, with the exception of his right arm, they were further covered in solid-looking black armor: and this black armor was further alloyed with a red slotted coil with a single red spine forming around the left wrist plus the feet ankles.

He also bore two knobbed spaulders made of what seemingly was the same material over his shoulders to protect them.

His right arm, by comparison, bore a thick black bracelet circling around the wrist: it turned his right fist and forearm into a mass of burning purple flames the brightness of which was constantly shifting.

He was holding a sword on his right hand which had a reddish hilt with yellowish ends: the blade had an indentation running across most of its height which began as a thin cone-like form, spread into a circle having a greenish dot in the middle, and ended close to the edge.

The blade was shaped like a trapeze with diagonal sides and had some grade of thickness to it unlike _katana_ or normal swords.

"Warp."

He warped into the Cyber World of the area and spotted a lot of Navis gathered around the virtual version of the City Hall: it also was burning and it'd seemingly been attacked as well.

"Hum."

He looked around and spotted a Heel Navi looking at the burning building with binoculars from the same position Spiral had been at on the real world: Burai narrowed his eyes.

_The guy's Navi? Or a decoy? Whatever. If it's a trap then so be it because I won't run away._

Burai silently warped behind the Navi and it turned out it was a hologram projector tossed into the ground.

_Hmpf._

A chuckle ensued and four big and brute-looking Security Navis surrounded him: each one carried a chainsaw on the right arm and a wrecking mace on the left one.

"CRUSH! DESTROY!"

"Hmpf."

Burai merely ducked and swung his blade in a wide arch and cut off the 4 enemies' legs and they collapsed into the ground: they suddenly formed a tripod base to stand up and charged for Burai but he merely jumped into the air above them and had them cut each other: he cut off their heads to finish them off and then scanned the surroundings: another group of 4 of them dropped around him and Burai grumbled under his breath: he quickly stabbed the floor with the blade and drew a circle: he kicked the ground and fell inside of the building as the 4 of them vainly brought down their maces into the hole: Burai landed inside of the empty building and kicked a side-door open to get out: he ended up in an alley and there were another 2 of them blocking each side: Burai grumbled and switched the sword to his left hand before jumping into the chest of the leftward one and plunging his right hand through the body: he gripped something and the Navi suddenly turned into stone: he jumped away as the other one hit the Navi with the mace and then began to slice it up.

"That all you can do? Spiral. You don't impress me in the least. Ah. Of course… Battle data… Hmpf. But no "battle data" will help you overcome this ability." He muttered as he glanced at his right hand.

"Who goes there? Ah! It's you. Burai."

"Huh? Hum. Blues. Been a while."

"Yeah. I heard reports of fighting here… That's it?"

"Yeah. Wait a min."

Blues showed up there with his Long Blade drawn but lowered it when he recognized Burai.

"What?"

He looked past him at the remaining Navi and Burai quickly ran towards it, jumped as it brought down the mace and plunged the sword into the head: it stopped working and collapsed face-down on the ground, making it shake due to its weight.

"Done."

"I see. Well. Insofar it'd seem that the real world car was unmanned and that Viruses were causing it to speed up to then detonate the C4 bombs loaded on it… Same for the Cyber World…" Blues told Burai.

"As expected."

"Yeah." Enzan joined the chat.

"Awake, Ijuuin?"

"I could ask you the same, Solo."

"Heh. Guess that." He smirked.

"Huff, huff… Damn it all!" Punk caught up to them.

"What's wrong?"

"Some bulky guys suddenly cornered me and I managed to shake them off somehow… That was close!"

"Hmpf. So they sought someone else to fight and found you."

"Guess we're not so lucky." Meijin barely repressed a yawn.

"You needn't tell me." Enzan grumbled.

"Yeah. First the break – in now this…" Blues grumbled next.

"Break – in?"

"Yeah. Someone broke into the physical archive and stole a hi-rank folder of some years ago… Something rather _inconvenient_. It was censored but it'd seem that even with the censorship one could figure out who they mean." Blues whispered.

"These same bastards?" Burai signaled the City Hall.

"Same ones alright. Sounds like them."

"But they haven't claimed it yet?"

"No."

"Maybe they're still deciding what they'll do with the file. Maybe they'll do nothing just to make us turn impatient and anxious." Enzan sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Hum. So they could be planning on a form of attrition warfare… Wear the enemy down through time…"

"In essence."

"If I had to guess then maybe we're gonna have these bulky weaklings next just to gather further battle data: maybe the rascal in person will assault us all of a sudden as well." Burai warned.

"Sounds like it…"

"Ah. Here you are, guys."

"Legato?"

"Hmpf."

Legato joined them and Blues immediately got annoyed: he folded his arms and looked elsewhere as if saying he didn't want to take part into the conversation.

"Blues. Not again."

"I apologize, Enzan – sama."

"Oh man. Well. Go walk around there and I'll call you when we're finished with the chat. Maybe that'll vent off those random moods of yours which are so annoying." Enzan ordered.

"Roger."

"Oh man. _Ani – ue – sama_ and his moods…" Legato sighed.

"What's happened?" Punk asked.

"We just got a report that someone's broken into Akihara Middle and stolen an old file of some years ago: the security guard caught the thief red-handed but they used a flash grenade: they then jumped off through the second floor's windows and easily ran away through a hole that had been opened on the west wall…" Legato explained.

"Why would they bother to steal a list? And from the description maybe it was a Navi."

"I guess they're investigating us: and they wanted to confirm if Kage had indeed been a student there some years ago… Despite that we recently rewrote all data stating that to erase any connection between him and Hikari it'd seem they got a hold of the rumor and decided to check it out themselves… And this is bad. Because you know what's happened twice before." Legato explained.

"Shit." Enzan cursed.

"Maybe they want to use that as something to threaten Kage with and impede him from fighting them?" Burai guessed.

"Hum. Good point. Hadn't thought of it like that. I thought they would target his friends to try to lure him out like in the past."

"If they want to prove they're different then they'll surely go for this second method." Burai told him.

"I don't think they'd stage the City Hall thing just to distract us and carry out the theft in the meanwhile: the City Hall must've been part of their plans: the theft is something they just thought of recently."

"There's no compromising info about Golden Star on your archives?"

"Well… We did go over them, both physically and digitally, but found nothing too compromising or which wasn't already known. The investigation at the time never established the identities of Hades and _Noir_ so the file was closed like that. We made sure to conceal the names of the members that have another work or affiliation."

"Good. As long as you do that…"

"Yeah. I know."

"Well. You guys be on the look – out too and make sure to dispose of any inconvenient files and all. Speaking of which: why didn't you destroy it years ago?" Legato asked.

"We needed the Chief's permission to do that. And he didn't give it to us because he always forgot. And I know that then Chief Sorodo replaced him but by then we'd forgotten about it. With you guys taking all of our attention and all." Enzan grumbled.

"Well then! My bad! It's not like we knew there was such a file either, Enzan!" Legato protested back.

"Stop. It looks like we're dancing to their flute's tune." Burai scolded them with a glare that could kill.

"Huh!"

"Oh boy." Meijin sighed.

"Their next hit which will surely be nothing compared to this. And maybe they could strike overseas as well. I've got that hunch."

"That Spiral gives off the vibe of being a foreigner."

"Maybe they use drugs and such to finance themselves?" Meijin offered.

"Yeah. But maybe they do it in foreign countries and then launder the money or hide it on tax havens." Legato argued.

"Let's go hunt for clues: anything will do at this stage." Burai set a goal.

"That's fine. Blues! Let's go. Time to shake up some rascals."

"Heh. My blade desires action… I'll prove it with some!"

"Let's go over the files once again, Punk."

"OK! Meijin!"

_Shadow Nova… I won't let you cowards get away with it… My word! _

11:23 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Sheesh. I need something to take off my annoyance!"

"Why not some M &amp; F?"

"Well. Why not. Better that than banging walls, anyway."

Tozukana was standing on _Purgatory_'s deck and looked annoyed as she leant her arms on the left handrail: Lily was standing a coupe meters behind her and to the left while leaning her back against one of the buildings.

"Sheesh! Leiter, the…! Beat me 3 to 1! Why did my second shot go slower than the first?"

"Because the rifle lacked maintenance." Lily dully reminded her.

"Sheesh. Next time I'll turn the tables around on the Window Shooting duel!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Now what?"

"Alright! Play the deal."

"Good."

"V! B! N! On Air! Nightmare: chapter 3! Action: start!"

"… "Attention! M &amp; F! Stop anything you were doing and report to Mr. Super ASAP!"… "Did ya hear that, Boss? The jungle's call! Move the feet!"… "OUA~RGH!"… M &amp; F were carrying a safe and M suddenly runs off so it drops on F's right foot! "Feet! I'm so gonna make you walk with the elbows!"… "Man! The speaker said to stop doing what we were doing, no? Obey the orders, man!"… M runs away and crashes head-on with a piano Mr. Super had! TRRRLLO~NG! "GLGL!"… "Horror! What a catastrophe! We must do something!"… "Yes! Apply anti-bump emulsion, administer a streptomycin compound, X – ray scan, inject…!"… "No, man! It'll only take a bit of varnish!"… Turns out he was more concerned for the piano wound than M! "GRRR! Covering varnish! I'm so gonna cover with you 6 feet of ground!"…"

"Nyah, hah!"

"..."Hold back, man! If you take the guy out the personnel chief is gonna scold us!"… M tries to attack Mr. Super with a blade and only manages to cut off the brush! "Why! The brush has turned shorter! It must be some contagious illness!"…"

"Hah, hah! Piano more important than your men? Hah, hah!" Tozukana laughed at it.

"Really…" Lily rolled her eyes.

"… "Well! What do you think of this piano? Music is my true passion!"… "Heh! Not surprised that some composers have committed suicide as of late!"… "Sit down! I'm going to play the 7th Hungarian Rhapsody by Michael Jackson!"…"

"NYAH, HAH, HAH! 7th! Hungarian! Rhapsody! By… Michael Jackson! Talk about CREATIVE!" She exploded into mad laughter.

"Oh come on." Lily fumed.

"… "Yeah! Through the armored concrete room divider! Unleash the dogs! They can't have gone too far!"… "Gotcha, Mr. Super! They were in the 33rd!"… "The 33rd? Bus Line 33? Plaza Botija – Clavichord Avenue, right?"… "No! The 33rd Legion Battalion stationed on Addis – Aba!"… "I'll remember this, you gangster wannabe!"… "Hope you get leg osteoarthritis and Saint Vito dancing at the same time!"… "Well! Guys! Be ready to flavor your hearing."… "Allow me, Boss, allow me! I prefer to blow up my Eustachian Tubes!"… M had put on TNT cartridges on his ears! TOINGGGG! TUANG! CLITICLONGGG! "ROA~NC! FTZZZZ!"… "MRRRO~NG! PLFUA~H!"…"

"I knew it! That guy doesn't even know how to play the piano: it sounds so terrible and boring that you fall asleep!" Tozukana laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."

"… "Let's go patrol!"… "Like the Tuna members!"… "Beware! This is the REAL downtown! Don't lower the guard! They stab you in the back for less than 2 Reales!"… Note: old Spanish currency! ..."

"A knight wannabe?"

"…"Well, Boss! Surely it's no big…!"… "Maybe you think these are mosquito bites! Luckily I've got the armored jacket!"… F has all kinds of knives and sabers stabbed into his back! "IA~H, HAH, HAH!"… "Devil! Freddy's here! Run for it!"… "Calm down! This is but a nightmare! You only need to turn around: nightmares vanish if you ignore 'em!"… "You sure?"… RRAS! "OUA~H, HYAH, HYAH, HYAH!"… "They vanish, huh? You sure are gonna vanish! Like a saccharin in a bog!"… "Go get lost!"… "HEY! Stop discussing and come back 'ere! You gotta pay attention to me! This ain't serious!"… "Wait, Boss! I've got an idea to beat the guy: fire! Didn't you see it on the movies?"…"

"See what? The make-up?" Tozukana laughed.

"Oh come on."

"… "All ugly guys vanish if you expose 'em to fire! Hold it high up and when he shows up you set the guy's head on fire!"… "Yeah..."… "Good! I've got a beard that could rival Redbeard in person! I'll expose it to the sun… UV revitalizes it, regenerates it and… D-DEVIL! Wait there, I'm going to give you a treatment for the eyebrows!"… "Forget it, mister! This guy only uses mascara made of sea lion pate!"… "Shut up and run, you moron! Run!"… "Better to keep it low and hit the feet with it!"… "That's it!"… "Warning! He's coming! Get ready!"... A dog stops just around the corner to relieve! "Huff! It was starting to itch…"… "4, 3, 2, 1… FIRE!"… "Gotcha, you dog… Dog… It's a dog!"… "AING! AING! AING! GRRANGH!"… "Man! Boss! Get the leg outta the mouth! It might bite you! What ideas!"… "OW! OW! OUWA~H!"… CRUNCH, CRUNCH! "You know what? Let's use a Molotov instead! I fill up the bottle with fuel… Hold it while I fetch a cloth to use as fuse!"… A familiar claw shows up from the corner!"

"Freddy strikes back!"

"Obviously!"

"… "Why! You were planning on throwing that fuel to me?"… "Fuel? No, man! It's ferruginous water for beans indigestion!"… "I'm so gonna give ya a ferruginous slash!"… "See: I'm drinking it!"…"

"Oops."

"…"Someone's comin'… I'm outta 'ere!"… "Hey, buddy! Do ya have fire?"…"FUA~RGH!"… He vomits a torrent of fire and burns up the random guy! "T-thanks, man…!"… He shoots backwards and M spots him! "Whoa! Boss! You look like a Maserati car! Bad aiming, man! Entrance was a bit more right!"… He crashed through a parking's wall! "There's another bottle! Let's ready another one!"… "Hurry up! The guy's coming!"… "Done! Quick! Throw it!"… "Here goes! AUMPF! T-this is a glue pot! It's sticky! It's stuck and…!"… WHAM! "Damn you! Eat ideas! Eat fuel! Eat FLAMES!"… "You don't shade others when the Sun hits ya! Man! Burn up your back and say it's BBQ eel!"… "A~H!"… "The guy's back for more! We're done for!"… "Not yet! Let's make a flame barrier! This will keep the guy busy while we take shelter! Devil! It slid into the sewers through the cover's hole!"… "Man! The rats are gonna burn up!"… "And something else apart from rats too!"…"

"Some brute guy~?" Tozukana guessed, laughing.

"Knowing them…"

"A brute guy throws the cover and both of them and they get away! "Alright! I'll climb into the tree and when the guy comes I'll throw fuel into him! And you set the guy on fire!"… "Good!"… "What the devil are you 2 doing? What? Ah! UA~H!"… FLASH! PLOP! "UA~H!"… Turns out they actually set Mr. Super on fire! "Brute burning attempt! Soak a superior with fuel, set him on fire and flee. The man, despite having even the pylorus burnt up, runs off the ICU yelling "gonna kill 'em, gonna kill 'em!" in a horrid manner and…"… "Gonna kill 'em, gonna kill 'em, GONNA KILL 'EM!"… "T-think he'll do it, Boss?"… "Shut up and keep digging!"… M uses a whack-a-mole disguise to dig a small tunnel while Mr. Super patrols the surface with an anti-tank cannon!"

"Hah, hah! I knew it was gonna end up in trouble! And it indeed did: that Super guy is to blame for his lame piano skills!"

"Sheesh."

"And thus… This ends today's chapter! V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"Off air! See you next time at the GS Nerds!"

"Well! I feel in a better mood. By the way, Lily!"

"What now."

"Did ya have a hot night with Akemi~?"

"For last time. We're not _yuri_. Got nothing against it but I'm not the type to begin with. So stop with the pointless jokes, will ya? Not like they'll help you turn the tables around." She fumed.

"Heh! I like teasing ya!"

"Yeah. Like I didn't know that already."

"I'm sure that Miquel's a distant cousin of Elvis Presley!"

"Oh come on." Lily rolled her eyes.

"So? Not gonna stick around with the handsome hero~?"

"Who, Andy? Oh come on. Why should I bother in the first place, huh?"

"Ya never know! Life's enigmas! The guy might be the guy of guys that weren't guys until the guys were guys and it goes on!"

"Not Alfred again… The guy's CRAZY. For REAL. Makes you wonder why nobody has locked the guy in the madhouse… And I feel some _déjà vu _for some reason or another." She fumed.

"Maybe Needle Man's to blame? For giving the guy too many needles to play with?" Tozukana laughed.

"Sheesh. Needle Man doesn't give out syringes to anyone. Don't make pointless jokes."

"This morning I swear I saw an angel stalking ya!" She grinned.

"HUH?"

"I saw a white figure atop one of these buildings while ya were going ahead of me to look at the morning sea!"

"Yeah. Sure. Are you sure you weren't still half-asleep?"

"Who cares? I say I saw it!"

"Do you have any proof?"

"My hunch!"

"Yeah. Like that'll work. Look: if there was someone else apart from the usual members we'd already detected it. Pharaoh Man is constantly scanning the deck in case you hadn't noticed!" She signaled the central tower.

"Heh! The guy's rusty in the first place. My hunch beats 'em all!" She countered.

"And I insist that you surely were half-asleep to begin with or you're making it up to try to make me feel nervous." Lily drily replied: she still wasn't convinced.

"Heh! Fine. Believe what cha want. I'm going to have some push – ups there! And then I'll go tease Oscar! Nyah, hah!" Tozukana shrugged and forgot about the topic.

"You'll only call for further trouble. As if we didn't have enough!" Lily sighed in exasperation.

"Who cares? This ship needs some excitement! Else it's as boring as a college campus!"

"We don't need it thank you very much! ENOUGH!"

"Oho! GONHEU! The newest non-macho hero: rather looks like a woman in the first place! We need more of 'em!"

"Then do a drawing and submit it to Devian ART or Pixiv." Lily challenged with a shrug.

Tozukana merely shrugged and snickered while Lily fumed…

17:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hard to believe it's already Friday afternoon, _senpai_…"

"Time flies by when you're absorbed into something."

"Is that…?"

"Yeah. Yanada…"

Leon and Raito were chatting as they headed for the entrance of the middle school compound: Raito signaled another student and Leon calmly announced the guy's name.

"The troublesome subject?"

"In a sense."

Yanada had messy blackish hair and brownish eye irises and was about Leon's age and height: he looked annoyed and was walking apart from the rest of the students.

"… Pst! Bruce!"

"Ah! Cousin Samuel!"

"Hey. _Danna_."

"Sieg too…"

"And me too!"

"Eisei! Heh! The club's gathered!"

"It's them… The group I saw…!"

"Let's hide behind the other students…"

They spotted how Yanada met up with Urateido, Sieg and Eisei so they hid to avoid being seen.

Urateido wore a brown sleeveless vest over a red t-shirt, a large two-row leather belt, jeans, green socks and white sneakers.

His eyes' irises were blue.

Sieg sported sunglasses, one black long-sleeved t-shirt with a "broken heart" drawing colored purple, jeans with a brown leather belt, white socks and black sneakers.

"Let's go: the preparations are done." Urateido announced.

"Good! I missed it." Yanada looked eager.

"Me too! Need something to shake off the tension." Sieg snickered.

"The troublesome quartet is on the move." Eisei laughed.

The headed away so both sighed in relief and headed a bit down the street: Ms. Secretary was waiting there in front of a blue Subaru car and both came closer.

"Good afternoon, Leon. I see you avoided the troublesome lot."

"Yes, ma'am. It's better to ignore them."

"Indeed."

"Well, _senpai_… Let's meet again on Monday."

"Sure. Maybe I'll ring you up if there's a movie we can go see."

"Thank you. Good afternoon, ma'am."

"Good afternoon."

Raito headed away and saw how Leon climbed into the seat behind Ms. Secretary and she drove away: he smiled and looked animated: he soon heard some rushed footsteps and Netto and Saito (having their high school uniforms on and Netto having taken off the bandana) came to meet him so they headed back together.

"Hey. Raito. How was your day?" Netto asked.

"It was absorbing."

"Same here. Turns out someone hid all blackboard erasers… Hard to believe they still pull these pranks in high school…" Saito rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Well. Not like all high – school guys are excellent students either. Look at Jounouchi or Honda." Netto reminded him.

"Good point. Or Kaito – kun and his mischiefs. But since he gets good grades then it can be excused… To some level."

"To some level, yeah."

"By the way… The news of the morning… Was that…?"

"Yeah. The guys Miquel talked about… Shadow Nova… They're getting serious at last." Netto sighed.

"But there's little we can do."

"Is that so?"

"They've shifted from being an org that heavily uses Net Navis to a terrorist org. That means that the normal police is the one who must take care of them: only if they do something Cyber World – related is when the Net Police Cyber CID comes in…"

"And we quit years ago. Sure, Rock Man still has some battle level but it's gotten pretty low with the years. Since it was our decision to quit it and focus on important stuff…" Netto shrugged.

"I see… By the way… Are they worrisome? Those "Jet – Black Phoenix" people…"

"Oh no! They're the least of our worries. Their Boss doesn't want to become anyone's enemy. He just wants to experiment on them to see if he can make them boil their brains. If they can become cleverer or they'll forever be blinded by ego and arrogance." Saito replied.

"I see."

"And it'd seem he's tired of their behavior so he's surely punished them all and they won't be popping out for a while either. So we can focus on those other guys instead."

"I noticed, though… That those 3… They had some odd pendants. Do they mean anything?"

"It's a symbol to show that they're part of "Shunoros"… But not many know that… It also serves as energy source of a special Battle Chip they own and tended to use time ago but stopped because it was pretty much a cheat… Have you seen YGO: DM?"

"I did. All seasons."

"Remember the 4th season? The Doma Arc? The Field Magic Card that was prominently featured then… They've recreated it: in part, that is."

"Of course: it's not like it could just go and steal someone's soul."

"Exactly. So they use it to trigger that trump card. Maybe they'll use it if they see the need for it. From what we've heard, though, Prince Kuroban used to have a battle strategy very similar to that of the TV series: guess he got in the mood to copy them."

"Hum…" He looked interested.

"Sorry. We suddenly began to chat and chat… Guess it felt boring to be bombarded with all of that." Netto apologized.

"It's alright. Huh? An email… "Your number one admirer"… Sounds like spam…" Raito checked his PET.

"Just send it to the spam folder."

"Maybe it was Sieg &amp; the others, even." Netto grumbled.

"From what _senpai_ said that Sieg person is pretty self-centered…"

"So it'd seem. It's not like we've had much interacting with the guy either: but he's the type to stir up trouble… I heard that he snuck into a military base overseas and filled the air ducts with tear gas… Of course, he got punished by the Prince after that but…"

"Excuse me. Now that I think about it… Why do you call him "Prince"? He is not the Emperor's son, right?"

"Oh no! Of course not. No. He's the descendant of an ancient monarchy that ruled over a kingdom that occupied the north of Thailand and some of the surrounding countries…"

"Hum…"

"They were invaded and the ruling King was killed in a battle along with the Prince… But some surviving members went underground and maintained the continuity of it until nowadays… He happens to be the current Prince of that monarchy even if they've got no real authority… It's a symbolic title, a link from the past." Netto detailed with a smile.

"Wow. So he does have royal blood?"

"Sure thing. We've almost never interacted with him either: since he's an adult he tends to interact with Slur because they share the position of being the leaders of both orgs. And he seems to be a strict leader: even those 3 shiver when exposed to his anger." Saito added.

"And what is their purpose?"

"They wanted to be a counterpart to Golden Star, something to incite them to be constantly training and fighting so that they wouldn't get rusty and lower the guard when a new enemy appeared… Like now or when those Phoenix guys began to show up in the summer…"

"Things seem to be somewhat complicated around here…"

"At first. With time you'll realize it's all pretty simple."

"Ah. Here is my home. Well then. Good afternoon."

"You know that if you feel lonely you can drop by at any time: if you need a hint about the homework then you can ask us too."

"You know the drill. Drill, drill 'till you complete the tunnel."

"That's not a bad joke either."

"Or this one… "Mr. Policeman! They've stolen my car's handle, pedals, gear shift…!"… "Wait, wait! Are you sure of it?"… "Ah! No! Turns out I climbed into the back seat!"…"

"Hah, hah! Talk about a simplistic one but funny one too."

_I've now re-found happiness… And I'm not going to let go of it…!_


	10. Chapter 10: Steps to undertake

**Chapter 10: Steps to undertake**

06:48 AM (Bangkok Time), Saturday October the 15th…

"… I apologize if I summoned you two at too early of an hour yet I thought that the sooner we met the better."

"I care not, XY. I barely sleep to begin with. What about you, Kuroban?"

"Meh. I'm an early bird, anyway. And we're at difficult times: sacrifices will be needed."

"Good philosophy, young Kuroban."

"Thanks, Helios. So…"

"Ah. Wait. There is one more guest… Arriving now."

"Sorry if I'm late."

"Hmpf. Solo… Should've expected it."

"Same for you."

"Ahem, ahem. I hope we can leave historical differences at bay for a few hours and focus on our common enemy?"

"Of course. I'm mature enough to know that. Let's get on with it."

Slur, Kuroban and Solo had gathered beneath a gray stone dome with eight thick arches stretching from it: the surroundings were rather unlit and they were all sitting in stone armchairs set towards the center of the dome.

Set beneath its center was a cubicle formed by golden curtains which fluttered by the wind but which was empty.

There were another two stone armchairs placed in front of the cubicle and two persons were sitting on them.

The one on the left, XY, was a Net Navi who looked very similar to Slur yet their face was that of a man on his 30s: he had no trace of facial hair and his eyes had golden irises to them.

The Navi had that same pattern Slur had on her forehead painted there and some black bands spiraling around the neck: he didn't have the stars on the shoulders, though.

"Well. Maybe we should begin by discussing about what they intend to do with the stolen report…"

"Stolen report?"

"Ah. I forgot to report to you, Master Helios, that they stole a report from the Net Police Cyber CID."

"Hum. And I assume they want to use it to extortion someone?"

"Indeed."

Helios, the one sitting on the right armchair, was a man on his late 50s or early 60s dressed with a strange tunic covering the whole of the body and head which had an "arcane" or "alien" look to it.

The tunic was colored in several shades of blues and whites.

He was currently looking at XY with a calm and composed facial expression: XY slightly bowed before explaining to him.

"So. Who is the target?"

"… Hikari Netto and Rock Man…"

"Hum… And why is there such a report in the first place?" Helios wasn't surprised in the slightest.

"My Master. There were a group of 4 cowards that feared Rock Man's abilities and saw the apocalypse on him and his Operator. They tried to convince the previous Chief to take action against them. Luckily the man did not because he was but a pencil – pusher and did not dare to do something without asking Superintendent Oda. And he told him that those reports were unbiased. So he did nothing and Superintedent Oda archived it after censoring it because he did not have the permission to destroy it… And shortly after that… That tragic incident you know of happened. So it drew attention away." XY summed up so that Helios would remember.

"Hum. I know. So Shadow Nova got a hold of that report and plans to use it to keep both them out of their affairs…"

"Yes. But maybe they will not do that. Maybe their aim is subtler and they aim to pressure us instead." Slur replied.

"But it _is_ censored, is it not? And classified. Media should not be allowed to access it: they would be committing an infraction." Helios argued.

"It is censored but anyone could dig around to try to figure out who it means… And with the descriptions of the happenings then it would not be too hard to figure it out… And even if the Net Police were to complain I am sure that they could just pick a scapegoat and place the blame on them while gloating that their audience ratings peaked due to their "exclusive" material that triggered a scandal or controversy… Media can be pretty greedy and arrogant when it is convenient to them. We have an agent that works on that world and this is their view of the behavior of the top brass of the media." Slur warned.

"Guess we'll have to prepare a list of counter – arguments to debunk those or make it look like it's a fake." Solo suggested.

"Yeah. The ones who wrote it committed a crime, anyway. And they're on prison. Petty lot like them shouldn't have too much credibility especially when they're not being rational." Kuroban added.

"And, besides… We do not know how they will attack next: we have been hunting for all possible information but it is possible that they use means that cannot be intercepted… Maybe they have gone back to unused communication means like letters or messages hidden in newspapers adverts…" Slur fumed.

"We do not know where they come from, either?" Helios asked.

"We sent the images of "Spiral" that one of those weaklings had to the Interpol and other agencies but we've got no reply yet. I added the voice data from the battle the guy had with Gray, too. I think that it should be possible to ID him through that… Unless that the force the man belonged to is unwilling to disclose details." Kuroban sighed.

"By the way. You all are sure you were not followed?" XY asked.

"Absolutely. My transportation means across the Cyber World are too advanced: not even Zero is able to track my movements." Slur affirmed with a nod.

"I warped to the nearby city and reverted out of Denpa – Henkan to assume my civilian ID… Since it's not recorded anywhere then they wouldn't recognize me… And my "DH" has a different signature altogether which that rascal's scanner can't catch. I transformed again when I reached the coordinates you told me." Kuroban explained next.

"I made sure to alter my DH program so that the power signature would be different and put the PET on "flight mode" so that it wouldn't emit or receive signals either making it impossible to locate me. I used my portable stealth field to walk until the coordinates too." Solo finished with a shrug.

"Good. We must make sure that this remains one of the most secretive and safer places on Earth. If not we could meet up on Kyutora instead: there we would be sure that they would not be able to follow us: but let us save it as a last resource. That asides. What can we do?" Helios got to the core of the matter.

"That's the problem. We don't know what to do: except to wait for their next move." Kuroban sighed.

"Anything might become a hint. Even something that would irrelevant at a first look." Helios reminded them.

"Hum… Amongst the data Zero and I went over this night… There was nothing unusual…" Slur muttered.

"Anything will do. Even if it seems something vulgar." Helios insisted as if he felt there could be something.

"Hmmm… Well… A UAV base in Oklahoma sent a note from a Sergeant to a Commander saying that one of the operators had fallen ill but that a replacement had already been assigned…" She distractedly recalled without focusing too much on it.

"That could be it. They might plan on stealing an UAV and using it to commit an attack. Thus sparking controversy about the security on them and the background checks on the operators." Helios warned.

"So that would mean an action on foreign ground because an UAV in Oklahoma cannot have so much fuel… Or can it?"

"I think not. Then again those details are not of public domain." Slur replied with a shrug.

"Maybe it's aimed to Barrel…" Kuroban suggested.

"Colonel?" Slur looked annoyed at the mention of the name.

"Slur. I know you can't stand the man but leave it asides for now. Else we'll be made fools of."

"I know." She fumed.

"I am not fond of military forces either but it is not like we will let those fools get away with it, am I right?" XY argued.

"So we should warn them? How? They do not believe us."

"Colonel might not but I think that his subordinate Tomahawk Man is more open-minded. He did get along with Rock Man in the past. I will handle it. I will send them an untraceable email. I do not think an UAV can damage a base built inside of a mountain so easily." XY announced.

"Shit. Maybe they'll alter it to make it deadlier and more destructive."

"Annoyance blinds judgment." Helios warned them.

"And without judgment… Disgraces happen." XY added.

The 3 of them seemed to know they meant something that had happened given how they momentarily shivered: they then snapped out of it.

"We will use our central compute to gather data. My 4 warriors, though, using disguises, could move around and gather info. Do you approve, my Master?" He looked at Helios.

"I approve. Time is of essence. Let us go!" Helios approved of it.

20:16 PM (Indianapolis Time), Friday October the 14th…

"… Hey. Colonel. You there?"

"What's up, Tomahawk Man?"

"I got an anonymous mail…"

"And?"

"It says that we be on the lookout for the radar because it's possible that an Oklahoma UAV has been hijacked by a terrorist group and it might be sent to crash into this base…"

"Hum… Did you try to track it down?"

"I did but the trail got cold in an Ohio router…"

"Hmmm… Sounds possible and sounds like a fake…"

Tomahawk Man reported to Colonel inside of their base's Cyber World as Colonel walked down a corridor: he wasn't too surprised by the news and looked skeptical at them.

"Warning! Warning! All personnel head into the bunkers! This isn't a drill! Repeat! All personnel head into the bunkers! This isn't a drill!"

"This is Colonel. What's going on?"

"This is Radar Center! UAV heading towards the base at max speed: it's coming from Oklahoma given its IFF signature but no – one answers at its origin base! It seems to be have been hijacked!"

"Devil. So it was true." He didn't lose his cool nevertheless.

"Huff. Dingo! You heard that. Take shelter, quick!" Tomahawk Man sighed.

"Follow me." Barrel calmly ordered.

"All troops: follow me into the shelter as well! You never know: the impact might damage the power lines and some sections may lose power thus making us unable to exit the Cyber World! Move it! Quick!" Colonel ordered the Navi soldiers.

"Roger!"

They all orderly ran down some stairs and into a lower level: they crossed the entrance to a bunker and the armored doors were shut behind them: they sat down on the benches and tensely awaited.

"UAV in close approach! Less than 40 seconds to impact! It'll blow up into pieces at this speed!" The radar operators announced.

"Devil! Who could be doing this?" One soldier cursed.

"Hmmm… Maybe those "Shadow Nova" lot who were on the news the other day…" Colonel guessed.

"10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Impact!"

There was a loud sound coming through the audio input followed by vibrations and the lights flickered yet they remained stable: it soon died down and everyone sighed in relief.

"Damage report!" Barrel ordered.

"Yes, sir! The UAV hit the top of the base so the helicopter hatch is blown up and some of the hydraulic and electrical systems around there are broken as well: it was low on fuel so little fuel has been scattered: one or two small contained fires are present as well… Over 97% of the UAV has been destroyed upon collision." A soldier reported.

"Hum. I see. Radar! What's the status?"

"Oklahoma still won't reply to our calls either via radio or phone, sir! It'd seem they've been sabotaged. We called the city police and they're going to see what's going on."

"Alright. We can exit the bunkers: threat's gone."

"Roger, sir."

Colonel and Tomahawk plus the other soldiers exited: the Cyber World base hadn't suffered any damage yet they found those bulky Navis that had attacked Burai the previous day there and there: Colonel grumbled under his breath.

"Security! How did these guys get in?" Colonel grumbled.

"What guys? Ah! W-where did those come from? Thompson! What are you doing? Huh? Where did the guy go to?"

"Someone find Thompson. On the double!" Barrel ordered.

"Seal all exits!" Colonel ordered.

"This is southern garage! A Jeep's missing!"

"This is southern door! A Jeep driven by Thompson broke through the barrier and ran off in the direction of the city! It was too fast and we didn't have time to react!"

"DESTROY! DELETE!" The Navis roared.

"Stand back! Tomahawk Man and I will suffice." Colonel ordered.

Tomahawk Man leapt into the air and curled while he began to spin at a mad speed.

"Tomahawk Rolling!"

"Screen Divider!"

He hurled at one of the bulky Navis and the armor jumped off from the impact while shattering into pieces: Colonel swung his saber and a bolt of green energy travelled across the ground thus splitting another of those in half: more began to run in through a hole in a wall.

"Thompson turned off the firewall and rewrote the permissions!"

"Can you hear me? Barrel." A familiar voice called out.

"Who are you?"

"Spiral."

"Hmpf. Shadow Nova indeed. So Thompson is one of you."

"Meh. A mere double agent. Even if you were to catch him he knows nothing relevant. Experience has helped me structure the org so that there wouldn't be fools who knew too much."

"So you're some former special ops or intelligence agency man: like the Interpol said." Barrel was unimpressed.

"Correct. Man of lame baits." Spiral taunted.

"Gruh." He grumbled.

"I'm sure Washington must've scolded you over a billion times by now, am I right?" He sneered.

"None of your damned business." Barrel grumbled.

"And there you have that "avenger"…" He put emphasis on "avenger" as if to provoke Colonel.

"Sheesh." He grumbled.

"Oh man." Tomahawk Man rolled his eyes.

He formed a spinning tomahawk which drew an orbit and hit one of the enemies from behind, splitting through the armor and stabbing into the core: it growled and blew up (like the others) so Tomahawk Man rushed towards the next one.

"Army officials shouldn't be allowed to fulfill petty revenges: it gives a bad example to the troops and it looks like an abuse of authority. We would have rather demoted you immediately once you showed those signs no matter the competent or strong you are. There was no place for fools in the army I was at." Spiral lectured.

"HMPF!" Colonel tried to act the unimpressed.

"Which means that… You know something about those Washington hypocrites that stops them from sacking you. Interesting: an officer extorting the politicians." He sneered next.

"Get lost." Barrel tried to shake him off.

"I'm not done with you yet, Barrel. Just wait for your turn like you were in the bakery." Spiral replied.

"You think you're FUNNY. Don't you?" Barrel taunted.

"Who knows? Are you funny? As for that neophyte over there…"

"Neo-what? That being me?" Dingo gasped.

"My, my. Subordinates with little brains don't have a bright end: some end up 6 feet under. And you know what that means."

"YEA~RGH!" Dingo yelped, terrorized.

"Dingo! Don't let the guy's taunts get through! Sheesh."

"Hmpf. Whatever. You're nothing. Barrel is my prey. So! Barrel… Do you think your little game will hold on forever? When Internal Affairs get a hold of this they'll be coming for your neck." Spiral threatened.

"Threats and whatever." Barrel scoffed.

"Trying to play the cool man won't get you out of your current predicament. Just that you know. I'll leave it at here for today… Enough battle data too… I'll have to reward you for providing me with it… Do you accept checks?"

"Scram." Barrel was getting annoyed.

"Blank checks?" Spiral tried to taunt him further.

"GET LOST!" He exploded.

"Anger! Hatred! Grudge! Throw them at me: they'll make me stronger…"

"Not _Star Wars_ next… How childish." Barrel grumbled.

"Don't get the wrong idea. That's unrelated. You'd better not underestimate us, Barrel. Or you'll find yourself 6 feet under. He who warns a traitor is not. Farewell!"

His voice vanished along with the bulky Navis: Tomahawk Man sighed in relief and spotted Colonel brandishing the left fist as if trying to keep a hold of his anger: Barrel was still pretty much annoyed.

"Damned filth." Barrel cursed.

"Wait, you lot… I'll cut off your necks…!" Colonel hissed.

09:54 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 15th…

"… Those rascals are getting serious, man…"

"Yeah… The Crimson Lobby was nothing compared to these."

"First the City Hall now this…"

"I know. It's getting dangerous."

"Huff."

Leon sighed as he sipped a cup of water in the _Purgatory_ cafeteria and spotted Kage, Andy, Zarashe and Beta X discussing on another table as the TV showed imagery of the assaulted base: two soldiers were standing guard in place of the broken barrier a few meters behind the man reporter on the scene.

"I don't like them but they didn't deserve that." Kage muttered as he drank some coffee.

"Yeah. And it'd seem the agent they had in the Oklahoma base sabotaged all phone lines and radio systems before running away. Hard to say how far their reach extends to." Zarashe added as he drank apple juice.

"Money…" Beta X fumed.

"Surely…" Andy grumbled.

"Huff. These indeed are quite difficult times…" Dark Man muttered from his usual position.

"I need some air. Going to the deck." Kage stood up.

"I'm coming too." Andy stood up as well.

"Join you later… Still got half an apple left… I'll finish it up…" Zarashe told Kage.

"You mean half a cup…"

"It's a saying, man!" He tried to cheer him up.

"Well. Guess that." Beta X shrugged.

Leon finished his cup and followed them as they remained silent because they surely didn't want to start a discussion.

"You know what? Some M &amp; F should do to shake off the tension."

"Why. That sounds like a plan, man. Let's do it."

"Eh… Might I join you?" Leon asked.

"Huh? Ah! Leon. Sorry. Hadn't seen you. You OK?"

"Pretty much." He shrugged.

"That's the spirit."

They climbed into the elevator and exited into the deck: they spotted Yamato Man discussing with Cosmo Man and Freeze Man.

"It's Yamato Man… Guess he's back from his meditation and training trip to Kurashiki…" Kage muttered.

"Guess that. And he must be arguing about the happenings. No wonder knowing the guy's nature and behavior." Andy guessed with a shrug.

"… coward lot that shall face the wrath of Lord Serenade and Lady Slur and…!" He was grumbling.

"Yes, we know." Cosmo Man sighed.

"It's no wonder you're annoyed, Yamato Man, but annoyance won't solve anything. I'm sure Lord Serenade would argue the same."

"Hum. You have a point, my comrades." He rubbed his chin with the left hand and looked like he was thinking about it.

"How about we continue inside of one of the rooms? This way we won't be bothering others who come here to relieve stress."

"Let us do so!" He lifted his spear and hit the ground with it.

They headed inside of the building and closed the door: the group of 3 reached the bow and spotted President Hades sitting on the ground while leaning his back against the left handrail: he looked tired.

"Good morning, Mr. President."

"Huh? Ah. Good morning. Gentlemen." He calmly replied.

"Did you even sleep? Sir?" Kage asked.

"Am I that readable, Kage – kun?" He asked with a sigh.

"Eh… Yes, sir." He timidly replied.

"Don't be timid. I won't be offended by that. Yes, I know. I thought I could contribute to the effort Ms. Slur and Mr. Zero were doing."

"Sir. Nobody questions that you devote your efforts to Golden Star and to the company you also work with yet… Trying to ignore your health isn't good either." Andy added.

"I know… After all the struggle we've gone through… Starting with chasing that man and all…" He muttered.

"Do you mean XY? Sir?" Leon asked.

"Huh? What? Ah! No. I meant the Seraphs. It took us several months of work to finally get a working lead."

"True. It was frustrating, even. Say! Couldn't these guys be using channels and assets the Seraphs had? The police caught the leaders but didn't have time to go through all of the links and influences they'd built during their 50 years of existence!" Kage realized.

"Devil!" He stood up all of a sudden.

"Maybe they're leftovers of the Seraphs to begin with!"

"How didn't we…? By my blood!" He cursed, for once.

He quickly drew a smart-phone and dialed a number while impatient tapping the ground.

"_Mademoiselle_? Where are you?"

"I am with Zero, looking back at the data. Did something else happen apart from what we expected?" Slur calmly replied.

"I was talking with Kage – kun and company… And we suddenly had a flash of inspiration! These folk could be using remains of the Seraphs' influences and networks!"

"Ah! True. We never got to track them all: too much job and since they had been dismantled then we shifted our attention elsewhere." Slur realized.

"Then what we need to do is look back at all the data we have on the Seraphs… And try to trace their branches and dummies and proxies which still exist… Maybe these agents were actually placed there by the Seraphs and Shadow Nova hired them." Zero muttered.

"Let us get to work! Immediately." Slur ordered.

"Aye, aye! Boss. You guys! Bring me all data on the Seraphs!"

"YESSIR! AT LIGHT-SPEED AND NOT SOUND-SPEED! YAY!"

"What is that?" Slur sounded baffled, for once.

"Serenade told them the other day."

"Serenade…!" She got annoyed, even.

"Isn't it fine, Boss? It's good for the morale."

"Hum. We shall see!"

"Now, now! _Mademoiselle_! Let us be rational." Hades tried to calm her down while sighing.

"Hum. You have a point. Fine. I shall report to you once we have something solid."

"Please do so. I'll be on the cafeteria."

"Roger."

"Thank for the help, gentlemen."

"It's nothing, sir… It just popped up." Kage admitted.

"Thanks nevertheless. Just you wait…!"

Hades ran off at top speed, fueled up, and the three of them smiled since they'd helped him get back to full energy.

"OK. Time for some M &amp; F!"

"Alright."

"… V! B! N! Today… The nightmare! Chapter 4 part 1! Yes, this chapter's the last chapter and like chapter 1 is more than 8 pages so we'll be splitting it up!" Video Man announced.

"Hum. I see." Leon calmly muttered.

"… Start! Phone rings! "M! Answer the phone already, you bald lazy…! AGH!"… "Man! Just when I was testing my left tonsil disguise! Yeah? Yes, sir! As you order, sir! Mr. Super, Boss! He says we gallop there so… Run, "Babieco"! HIYA~H!"… PLAF! "Man, Boss! If we had to gallop someone had to do the horse role, no?"… "Well. I called you to test these pills designed by Professor Bacterio that… Yeah! The usual folk! Search them through land, sea and air! Use a bazooka if you need to!"…"

"Never trust anything made by the Prof. It'll always bring bad luck to whoever tries it out." Kage grinned.

"Obviously." Andy was unimpressed.

"Oh boy." Leon muttered.

"… "Huff! We sweated to catch 'em! They were running around in outer space!"… "I see! They stole a last-model jet, huh?"… "No! Mere muscles: they used the arms!"… "Well! Each one of us will have one of these pills and…"… PCHSSS! "No! I prefer to gas myself! To hang myself! To zap myself!"… BLAF! "Man! Don't get annoyed! I'm listening!"… "I insist: these pills by Bacterio are to prevent sleep and protect us from the Freddy rascal… Because they'll keep us awake, lucid, alerted, ready…! JRRON! PFLA~H!"…"

"That was a "flag" indeed!" Kage laughed.

"Yeah. Anything by Bacterio always has the opposite effect to what it's supposed to do."

"I see."

"… "Well, Mr. Super… Did you check out my pill? Do you feel awake? Man! Doesn't seem to!"… "PFFF! RO~H!"… "And you? Did you take it?"… "MEOGZZZ! MOUNGF! PJJJJ!"… "GRFJTX! You had a CAT eat it!"… "So this is what happens when I try to help you! Hmpf! And you? Whom did you give the pill to? What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a coffee cup? Coffee? You surely haven't stuffed into the COFFEE! You little… FCHSSS! RA~H! PJO~H RONFLFL!"… "M! Where do you come from? What did you to Bacterio?"… "Don't mind it, Boss! Personal stuff!"… He abandoned him in Greenland inside of a block of ice! "RONGGG! PFUA~H!"… Mr. Super begins to dream! "Pom, dom, tom! How nice! A funeral with its pine box and its deceased inside!"… "IA~H!"… Freddy jumps off from within the coffin! "Help! Help! HELP!"… "Wha~t?"… Turns out the soul of a guy named "Help Perez" answered! He falls into an open and yet empty grave! TROMP! "GLGLG!"… A random citizen walks close and looks down then steps away! "What miserable times! Not even a box!"… "Do you believe in reincarnation, Don Servando?"… "Not at all, ma'am! Superstitions! Nobody comes back from…!"… "I~H!"… "I say they come back! And he owed me 20,000 pesetas, the…!"…"

"Huff. Trouble at the graveyard. In the morning." Leon muttered.

"Guess it's a parody of the belief that graveyards are dangerous at night!"

"Guess so!" Andy muttered.

"… "Why! I know this guy!"… M's weeping in front of a wave! "Mortadelo! What happened? Some relative?"… "No! Ofelia! Ofelia's left us!"… "Why! Now's Mr. Filemon? Who is it?"… "Bacterio! Said he took his last invention with him to the grave so that he may sleep in peace and appeasement, without sudden…!"… BOOM! The invention exploded! "IA~H!"… "Mr. Universe's after me!"… M tries to outrun Freddy! "Ah! An empty niche: let's hide inside! Devil, the floor broke!"… BROOM! A young window brings roses to the niche of her late husband… "Pepe! Two years! Without listening to you… Tell me something!"… "GEMME OUTTA 'ERE~!"… "NGGG! GJNNN!"… The widow suffers a hysterical crisis and needs to be taken away while a worker breaks the cover and allows M out!"

"That guy…"

"… "Freddy wants to finish us off! I'll hid! I'll be safe inside until he gives up… UA~H! GRFTJX! The burning guys and their rush to get rid of the job!"… The inside of the grave had a still-burning coffin! "There's another empty grave so let's hide there!"…"

"Really…" Kage chuckled.

"Black humor indeed." Andy wasn't surprised.

"Maybe too much of it, even." Leon criticized.

"… "Heh, heh, heh! I'm so smart, really! Whoa! It's SO deep!"… BLAFF! He lands on a metro platform labelled "Line 6"! So he climbs up the stairs, surprised, to leave! "D-did you see Freddy around?"… "Nope! The guy's hidden somewhere!"… "Look! That pantheon's open! He must be inside!"… "Let's finish the guy off! Since it's a terrific existence then we'll have to go Dracula – style with a stab into the heart! Allow me! I'm so gonna turn the guy into wood! Knew it… Open coffin… There's the rascal! Have at ya, burnt jerk!"… "IA~RGH!"… "Boss! I finished the…!"… "This guy was hiding behind a tree! Hit 'im with the hammer!"… "IA~H!"… M looks back at the building and faints from the realization! "GLGL!"… BLOM!"…"

"So he killed a real Dracula instead?" Leon was surprised.

"Maybe it was unlit and he couldn't see who was there." Kage guessed.

"Sounds like it."

"… "Forget the _siesta_, you worm! The guy's catching up!"… "I know, Boss! I'll disguise as something far more horrific and give 'im a scare!"… "Got you, gotcha!"… "NO! NO! NO~!"… "Stop yelling, you lot! One cannot even rest 200 years!"… A ghost pops out from a grave, surprising Freddy! "Help! Help me!"… "I shall…!"… "Excellent, M! The guy's running away!"… And so we leave it here for today! Look forward to the conclusion!"

"V! B! N! Off Air!"

"Heh! How ironic: now Freddy is running away and feeling the fear on his ugly hide!" Kage chuckled.

"Ironic indeed." Andy drily muttered.

"Very ironic." Leon wasn't surprised either.

"Oh come on. Try to put some more energy and don't take it with so much skepticism! Else you lack energy on life!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel like it." Leon admitted.

"Yeah. Maybe it's the residual annoyance."

"Speaking of which… Those 3 are still discussing?" Kage wondered as he looked at the building.

"Seems like it." Andy muttered.

"But they won't fight each other, right?"

"Of course not."

"Huh? Who's that?"

"What, where?"

"… EH… How odd. I thought there was someone there looking towards here... Or maybe there wasn't?"

"Maybe it was Napalm Man pulling a joke. Knowing the guy!"

"Guess that."

Leon suddenly gasped and signaled atop the building but when the other 2 looked there was nothing: Leon had turned his head to the right for a moment to warn them and when he faced forward again then there was nothing but they concluded that it surely was some joke to begin with: they shrugged.

"By the way… We should be careful: those guys might try to board this ship, even. If some KCK agents were able to a year ago then they surely can do it too." Kage suddenly warned.

"We should tell Boss and we could set buoys with sensors that detect if anything tries to approach…"

"Yeah. But they could be coming by plane or chopper as well. And who knows: they might get their hands on a stealth plane or chopper that isn't caught by radars. I remember that there was a _Bat-man_ comic that involved a fleet of silent choppers patrolling Gotham to try to hunt out _Bat-man_ and his allies and annihilate them." Kage recalled while glancing at the skies.

"Maybe we could close the covers at night-time when we know that no – one will be coming or leaving?" Andy suggested.

"Guess that. And focus the guard on the central tower… Another weak point is the windows. I know they're bullet-proof but if we leave those open then they can intrude through those: just like it happened a year ago…" Kage looked over the handrail.

"Dimensional Area shields should be able to defend those and, at the same time, allow air in and out."

"Hum. Maybe we could the same for all air inlets and outlets: they could be desperate enough to gas us and force us to exit."

"Yeah. If we tell Legato he should be able to take care of that with the others."

"Let's go meet Boss and discuss this with him. It might turn out nothing happens but we better be prepared if it happens."

"Roger. See you, Leon – kun."

"Good morning."

Both raced away so Leon sighed and sat on the box to distractedly look out at the sea: some seagulls were flying close by and one dived to catch a fish and then fly again: he tried to focus his mind on something else.

_It's creepy, really… All of that talk… Sounds like a war is about to begin…_

His PET suddenly rang: Napalm Man's face was on-screen, chuckling.

"Yo! Golden Leo! I beat _Marchando_ Man's record by 3.58 seconds: talk about sweat and flames!" He laughed.

"I see." He wasn't too surprised.

"What's with the long face? Cheer up, man! I'm gonna go and blow up that giant cheat puppet!"

"What giant cheat puppet?"

"That Shu-something thing! Has the name as the gang that lil rascal belongs but I don't remember it…"

"Ah. Oreichalcos Shunoros, you mean. Yeah. That was one hell of a cheat indeed. Followed by Sieg's Deck. The Valkirie combos and the 3 Goddesses plus other things were ABSOLUTE cheats…" He rolled his eyes.

"We're gonna bring Chaos Emperor Dragon and burn them all to cinders and ashes!"

"Fine. But make sure not to drag others into it."

"Don't worry! We're gonna arrange for a Smash Bros. stage and go as wild as we want there! Oh yeah! _My soul's on fire, man_! Let's bust and crush and turn 'em into DUST!" He laughed.

Napalm Man ran off, laughing, and Leon formed a weak smile as he stood up and looked at the sea: he felt the wind coming on his direction and how his hair and clothes flickered.

"Ah… I like this feeling… It erases the tension… Oh well. If we get depressed then they win… I should think of them like I did of that Demon of my life… If I am happy and strong… They lose. Yeah. That's it: else the stuff I told Raito – kun becomes pointless."

"… Burnin' and ragin' and rampagin' goes my soul! _Oh yeah_!" Napalm Man was telling Burner Man off-screen.

"Don't overdo it, man!" Burner Man laughed and seemed to feel in a good mood as well.

"Those 2 are too hyper-active, anyway." Leon grinned.

Feeling in higher spirits, he headed back towards the entrance to the ship and, as usual, failed to spot the white figure silently looking at him…


	11. Chapter 11: Reminiscence wound

**Chapter 11: Reminiscence wound**

09:32 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 16th…

"… How curious that you called for us 2."

"You didn't want your dad to be here to support you?"

"It's alright… I think I've got enough courage to tell it myself…"

"Nobody forces you to."

"If you don't want to then you needn't."

"… I know. But if I don't… I feel like I'm running away and that's what a coward does… I won't be a coward anymore… I'll be strong… Like you gentlemen…!"

"Alright. But don't force yourself either."

"If at some point the pain is too much to bear then you can leave it at there and it won't matter."

Raito was speaking with Netto on Saito on the park near the fountain: he looked nervous but he seemed to have a strong resolve: both reminded him that he needn't force himself.

"By the way… We already formed an idea of what happened… Your mother abused of you through S&amp;M?" Netto asked.

"… Yes. How did you know?"

"We thought that only that would explain the sudden divorce and you moving here… And Leon – kun told us he had the impression your past was similar to his…" Saito sighed.

"… He's right. My mother… After I turned 10… Dragged me to a club that some women owned… And…" He trailed off.

"Raped you…" Netto sighed as well.

"… Yes… And it began to repeat… Once a week, on Fridays after school she would drag me there and it would happen… That was for one year…"

Raito stopped to breathe in and exhaled.

"After I turned 11 she increased it to twice a week and would do the same on Tuesdays as well… When I turned 12 she increased it again to 3 times a week… Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays… And I'm sure she intended to increase it by one day per every year I grew…" He muttered.

"And you dad eventually found out."

"Yes. He was suspicious of that person and stalked us one day: when he saw what was going on he rang the police and they immediately came to arrest all the persons involved… Since they were caught red-handed and they had tons of DVDs lying around proving what they'd done the trial was fast and without the need of us having to show up there… My father said that the house now felt like a lie because he'd been living a lie for 3 years… Or maybe ever since he married… So he remembered about you gentlemen and said we would move here…" He finished.

"I see. So it indeed was like Leon."

"He was abused of by his mother too?"

"No. In his case it was his step-sister and Sieg. Well. The step-sister began it and Sieg became an accomplice to her. She was intending to sell them off for life to a _yaoi_ club once she'd "trained" them enough. But Leon – kun found a chance to escape and stumbled upon Andy and Miquel – kun so they saved him… They notified the police and Sieg, seeing them come, ran off while the villain was drunk and asleep… They caught her but Sieg wasn't anywhere to be found… Would later turn out he snuck into the _yaoi_ club and pretended to be one of the "workers" there… And he got the eye of Urateido, who was inspecting clubs the Prince was using for quick financing back then… His predisposition to evil and his connection to Leon – kun interested the Prince so he allowed him to join the org." Saito explained to him.

"I see. Hence why _senpai_ hates him."

"Of course. Being betrayed by him countless times… And deceived more than once…"

"You were very brave telling us, Raito – kun. Now you can be at ease and always think that you'll be stronger than that evil person. If you think that then you'll overcome the fear they set into you." Saito encouraged.

"Thank you."

"Well. Sad talk is over so… Let's finish M &amp; F! I want to see how they settle the score with Freddy!" Netto grinned.

"It'll do well to blow away this heavy air."

"Yes. I guess so."

"V! B! N! On Air! Today… The Nightmare! Chapter 4 Part 2… Today it ends, our folk! Action!"

"… "Here I am, Boss! Where's Freddy?"… M walks in disguised as the Frankenstein monster. F whips around and realizes it was a real ghost and faints from the fear! "Wake up, man! I've got another idea to beat the guy! Garlic! Vampires fear garlic: maybe it works as well!"… "But we've got no garlic here!"… "Not here but I soaked some in the morning coffee! Wait there! PJUA~H!"… He vomits his stinking garlic-filled breath at Freddy's face and he collapses, KO! "I did it, Boss! I did it!"... "Let's toss the guy into the hole, fill it up and…!"… "Hey! What are you throwing there?"… "Since the grave's empty…"… "What empty grave? Here's where the hole for the new entrance of the underground mourning room!"… "HELP!"… "I~H!"… "Help us!"… "Man, what times! Not even death brings quiet!"… "Devil! We've been seen! Run! It's coming!"… "Run, run!"… "We're doomed! The guy's catching up!"… "Throw something!"…"

"The dead wake up, huh?" Raito looked somewhat amused.

"… "Gotcha! I'll toss this garbage bin and…! HUH?"… "Ah!"… "IA~H! HYAH, HYAH!"… "I'll remember this, you lot! Exposing my hiding… OW! OUW! OUWA~H!"…. "Dear! What slashes! What can we do?"… "Do like I do: don't look! I KNOW! Allow me, Mr. Super!"… "Y-yeah, go ahead!"… "Look, look! Heh, heh!"… "ARGLLL!"… BLOM! "D-devil! He's DEAD! How did you do it?"…"

"How, indeed?"

"…"Simple: place a mirror in front of the noses! Couldn't bear to see his ugly hide! Watch out, Boss! Maybe the same thing will happen to ya!"… "Good! Dig a REALLY DEEP hole so that he doesn't rise up again!"… "Yes, sir! Deep! Deep! REALLY DEEP! Deep! Deep! Deep! Deep… Deep… Deep…!"… A Chinaman pops out from the hole: maybe it's linked to Beijing, even? …"Not so deep, man!"… "Good! Toss the guy in!"… "Have at ya!"… M kicks the guy in with a soccer boot! "Let's fill it up!"… "Earth, earth more earth!"… "What are you doing, you crazy guys? Stop throwing earth!"… PLOP! "Help! HELP!"… "Devil! W-what in the…?"…"

"And back to reality! The day's unfortunate victim is Bacterio?" Netto laughed.

"But didn't M abandon him in Greenland? He's back already?" Saito argued back.

"That lady's voice was Ms. Ofelia, wasn't it?" Raito recognized it.

"… "Security? Yes, totally mad! They dug a hole and are burying Mr. General Director inside! COME ASAP!"…"

"The General Director? Huh-oh." The 3 of them gasped.

"… "Man! Reducing me to traffic policeman… By the way… These drivers sure look pissed off!"… "Of course: they don't want us cleansing the windshields!"…. "I said NO! I said NO! Cleanse your noses!"… "Come on, it's just 25 pesetas!"… "Well. Bacterio also got scolded: he can only experiment with rotten sardines!"… "The monster tale's over! The world's safe from that crazy guy's inventions!"… "B-but, Mr. General Director! The sardine's liver enzymes are good for the bruises and… I didn't have any evil intentions! CALM DOWN!"… "GRMFTX!"… The General Director's become a sardine monster and is trying to beat Bacterio to a pulp! And so… The curtain drops on the stage!"

"See you next time: we'll soon pick a new story so be on the look-out for it! Let's meet again at the usual place: the GS Nerds! V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"Off Air!"

"Well. The irony at the end was fun too." Netto grinned.

"Yeah. Let's hope Bacterio doesn't invent any more weird stuff but I'm afraid he'll keep on doing that."

"Won't the guy?"

"Wha! Eisei!"

"You stalked us or what?"

"No, no! Pure coincidence! I was on my way to somewhere else and this is a shortcut!"

Eisei suddenly appeared there while having his hands stuffed on the pockets and grinning: the twins questioned him with obvious suspicion while Raito took a step back to be outside of view.

"It's pointless to hide, Masuyama! Yanada told me about you: and my nose tells me you were in the business."

"Gray…!" Kuroban grumbled over the PET.

"YIKES!"

"I did well on checking on you… Trying to stir up trouble again thinking I'm not looking? AS IF SHADOW NOVA WASN'T ENOUGH! BY THE HIGH ONE: WHAT FOOLISH PLEBEIANS!" His voice suddenly turned accented.

"S-see ya!"

He ran off at top speed and Raito sighed in relief while the twins rolled their eyes.

"The guy won't grow up." Netto muttered.

"Has he ever?" Saito fumed.

"Spoiled?" Raito asked.

"More or less. Seems to be an adult version of Sieg from what Golden Star figured out about his past. Similar circumstances too…"

"Huh? What?"

"He and his brother were kidnapped by a gang and "sold" in an auction in Choina where Chinese mafia men took part… And kept prisoner on that man's manor to be abused of… The police rescued them after some time and brought them back to Japan… Eisei then vanished off the radar and somehow ended up being found by the Prince who wanted a guy who didn't mind doing "evil" stuff and who could be his agent and representative while he operated behind the scenes…" Netto exposed with a sigh.

"Hence why he gets along with Urateido and Sieg… But instead of being the masochist the guy prefers to be the "sadist"…" Saito summed up while grumbling.

"And that Yanada person is also…?"

"Yeah. But don't worry: the Prince won't let them come any close to you since he doesn't like their idiocies."

"Phew."

"Typical of the guy: spoiling the good mood…"

"Like the Prince said: as if that crazy lot wasn't enough…"

"What a morning!" Raito fumed.

The group of three fumed under their breaths: Eisei messed it up too often and it got tiresome.

"We need a joke to vent the bad mood off… At an army party, a young Ameroupe colonel, attracted by a beauty, tries to get her to dance with him. He eventually runs out of patience and signals his shoulders' golden eagles. "Miss! I am a Colonel, don't you see?"… "Is that so, sir? I saw those roosters there and thought you were the cook!"…" Netto read.

"Mistaking eagles for roosters? Maybe she needs contact lenses."

"Let us suppose so." Raito slightly smiled.

"Alright! This did it. Let's go have a walk and enjoy the fresh air!"

12:22 PM (Bangkok Time)…

"… Hey. You guys."

"You mean us?"

"Give us the money if ya want your necks to stay there! Heh, heh! How about that?"

"We refuse."

"Take it by force."

"If you _can_, that is."

"Heh! Men! Let's go!"

"Orrya~h!"

"Burning Fist!"

"Cooling Jet!"

"Razing Wind!"

"Punishing Bolt!"

"What! Ugrah!"

"T-too strong!"

A group of 4 Normal Navis colored red, blue, green and yellow had been walking down a street in the Bangkok Internet City when a band of pirate-themed Navis suddenly attacked them after they tried to force them to give them the money they had: each Navi replied with an attack of one element: the red one formed thick steel armor over the right arm that began to burn and delivered a blow that sent one of the enemies flying: the blue one formed what seemed to be a customized Bubble Spread gun and loaded up energy before shooting a powerful, thin jet of water that pushed another enemy back: the green one formed two small twisters that sent another two enemies skywards: the yellow one drew what seemed to be lightning rods and aimed them at the sky to make bolts rain down on another 3 of them.

"R-RUN!"

"Too strong, damn it!"

"It's YOUR fault!"

"Hmpf." Neither of them were impressed.

_What happened, my warriors? _A familiar voiced echoed inside of their minds.

_Lord XY. Some fools assaulted us and we repelled them. They were weak and cowardly and quick to blame each other. They were no menace to begin with. _The red warrior reported.

_They were disgraced fools. _The yellow warrior shrugged.

_One attack sent them running. _The blue warrior added.

_Hmpf. They shall not cross our paths ever again._ The green warrior sentenced.

_Hum. I see. Do not lower the guard: they could be weak in purpose and those fools are using them to gather battle data. But then again your "skins" are designed to fool any scanner into thinking you are but normal Navis slightly more powerful than the average. They will not find the connection because you do not "exist" in any file. And they will not be able to intercept this communication. _

_Yes, Lord XY. With thou will._

_Good. Once the mission timer reaches 0 then you should return through the route marked on the files. Make sure to be on the look-out and gather all information you can: at this stage any gossip or rumor could be a lead to their next move. _

_Roger, Lord XY._

_I shall be watching from time to time: but use the emergency channel if an emergency situation were to arise._

_Acknowledged, Lord XY._

The communication ceased and they all nodded to each other before going on different ways.

"… from the mine, still don't know how many and…"

"Gotta be the usual folk…"

"Yeah… Damned bastards…"

"What is the matter?" The red warrior asked a group of 3 Navis discussing about something.

"Someone stole a ton of explosives from a mine… And they were smug enough to leave behind a note in Russian that read "idiots"…"

"The smug bastards! As always!"

_Russian… Explosives… Hum. Maybe they seek to strike the Sharo Army next after the Ameroupe Army. And this time they might plan on destroying some important system… Military radars could be a target… There should be an investigation to see if they find any insiders there… But how to tell them apart? _

_Did you find anything, Red Warrior?_

_Yellow Warrior? The Sharo Army could be a target next._

_Hum. Blue Warrior here… It would seem the theft was done during the night… But that is hardly any hint… _

_Hardly. _Green Warrior agreed on it.

"… Hey. You guys…" A Heel Navi approached the group.

"Whaddya want?" One asked.

"We need guys who're ready to bust weaklings… There'll be nice pay and bonuses…" The Heel Navi told them.

"Hum…" The 3 Navis sounded skeptical.

"What kind of "weaklings"?" Red Warrior questioned.

"Weaklings. That's it." The Heel Navi shrugged.

"Sounds like a trap!" One argued.

"Yeah. Get lost."

"We're not idiots!"

"Heh! Fine. I don't want grunts."

"Who's a grunt?"

"I'll show ya who's a grunt!"

"Bring it on, twerp!"

"Hah! Dream Aura, Sanctuary!"

_Hi-class Battle Chips… This man is no commoner._

"Wha~t?"

"Have at ya!"

The Heel Navi ran off, laughing, and the Red Warrior ran away in another direction parallel to the Heel Navi: he spotted him turning off his defenses and approaching another group of Navis.

"I need guys who'll beat weaklings."

"Hum!" The Navis looked skeptical.

"Man. I thought you Bangkok guys were the type that always looked for a fight and all." The Heel Navi sighed.

"We've been scammed SO many times already that it's hard for us to believe types like YOU. So get away before we beat you to a pulp: shoo, shoo!" One of them fumed.

"Fine. So I'll go hire desert jackals instead." He turned around and sounded disappointed.

None of them reacted so the Heel Navi grumbled and walked off while mumbling under his breath.

"At this rate Lord Spiral will have my neck." He cursed aloud.

_Ah! I was right. This man is an agent looking for men that will carry out distractions… Maybe dummy attacks… _

"Hey. You. I thought it back. I need to fight some weaklings and beat them: I prove that I am not weak." Red Warrior called out to the Heel Navi with an exaggerated foreign accent.

"Huh? Hum, hum! You give off the vibe of having some strength."

"Your combo is good but loses meaning in front of Panel Format or Super North Wind."

"Ah! You know the stuff! Good, good! That's the type I wanted!"

"Got some pals. We strong. We serve anyone. As long money. If good money then we do dirty job. Whatever it is. Bomb, sabotage."

"Good, GOOD! Heh, heh, heh. I did well on looking around: what's your name?"

"Just call me… Red." He shrugged.

"Good."

"I call pals. We discuss. 5 minutes?"

"I can wait 5 minutes."

_You heard it, my comrades. We must pretend to be dishonorable folk: and maybe this is just a small operation… I do not think they will show us any base but it is worth an attempt. _

_I agree. _Blue Warrior replied.

_It is worth a try. Lord XY said nobody could link us to him. _Green Warrior reminded them.

_We are converging on your position._

The other 3 gathered and the Heel Navi rubbed his hands in excitement.

"Payment's 5,000 Z the day. Meet me tonight at midnight in warehouse 17-B. Password is… "Funky Monkey"! I'm lucky, by my mighty hide!"

18:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Well, well. Let's head back…"

"Not so fast!"

"Huh? Who's there?"

"I'm looking for types who wanna bust weaklings! You look strong and customized."

"… Yes! I'm bored. I need to bust some weaklings!"

"What's the name?"

"Tape Man!"

_Video Man, actually… But if this guy is who I think it is then…_

Video Man had been walking down an alley on the Japan Internet City when another called out to him: he lied about his name and inwardly chuckled as a Heel Navi similar to the one in Bangkok had called out to him and he shrugged as the Heel Navi chuckled.

"Good! Meet me this midnight on warehouse 23-F! We pay 7, 5000 Z per day: you only need to bust weaklings and that's it!" The Heel Navi told him while chuckling.

"OK! Count on Tape Man!"

"Good. With you and the quartet on Bangkok then no weakling will oppose us!"

"Delighted!"

"Nyah, hah, hah, hah. Today's my lucky day! By my might! I'm so gonna get ascended to Executive Class! Nyah, hah, hah, hah! The Goddess of Luck must be on my side: that's for sure!"

The Heel Navi ran off and Video Man snickered as she stepped into a side-alley.

"Slur – sama: please come in."

"Did something happen?"

"I got recruited for a Shadow Nova mission… It'd seem the recruiter doesn't know anything about me… He just got the hunch I'm strong and he said something about a quartet in Bangkok…"

"What a coincidence. I knew of that quartet… They are on our side as well… This is an excellent chance." Slur sounded amused, for once.

"Roger. However… What if the target is indeed the Sharo Army?"

"You can always prove with your records that they lied to you. Even if they try to argue that they told you the records will prove them wrong."

"Acknowledged, ma'am…"

"Hmpf. You fools… You have committed a mistake… And you will regret it forever… Obviously enough this will not allow us to reach Spiral but we will get an idea of how they gather agents or what kind of bases they use to operate… Anything will do."

"Roger."

"Return to the base: do some training in case they want to test out your abilities beforehand."

"Understood."

Video Man discreetly got away from there and headed inside of a building: he touched a panel in the ground and it vanished revealing the world of the Reverse Internet extending many hundreds of meters beneath there: he jumped down and soon landed on a platform: he looked around to make sure no – one was around.

"… I feel… something." He muttered all of a sudden.

He scanned his surroundings again and looked mistrusting of them: he rubbed his chin with the right hand and seemed to be thinking about what to do.

"Oh well. In that case… Oh! Look! It's a data package! Money! Incredible: it's a blank check!" He gasped.

"Blank check!"

"Mine!"

"MINE!"

"I was first!"

Four Heel Navis colored black jumped out of hiding behind some rocks at the platform where Video Man had left a data file in the shape of a blank check: they began to fight each other for it and Video Man slipped away to land some levers lower: he stopped and looked around.

"My, my! What's this? A diamond!"

"DIAMOND? MINE!"

Another 8 Heel Navis jumped off and began to fight over a diamond Video Man had placed on the ground: he chuckled under his breath and kept on dropping down and down until he reached the bottommost level.

"The Virus Lab's ruins…"

Indeed: the remains of building were scattered around the central area and it looked like it'd collapsed some time ago.

"… This is getting tiresome, even." He grumbled.

He sighed and rolled his eyes as if trying to think of how to lure the ambushing assaulters.

"… Oh! Serenade – dono! Welcome back!" He called out as loud as he could.

"What! The Reverse King!"

"RUN!"

This time 16 Heel Navis ran off at top speed and began to jump upwards as if fearing for their lives: Video Man chuckled as he ran towards a spot that had nothing and vanished with a flash to then reappear outside of a large firewall having guns mounted on its body around and over the doorway.

"This is Video Man. Password: 17XG48TY63QRF."

"Password matches. Say the word." Zero replied through a speaker set above the doorway.

"Ahem, ahem. Of uncles goes the world! Merton, Moran and Moriarty: the Majestic Uncles!" He announced.

"Another one. Just in case."

"Ahem, ahem. I can promise you something: the next story will be far more maddening! Or maybe not." He laughed.

"Data matches as well. By the way… How many helpers do I have?"

"50."

"Bravo. Step in."

The doorway opened and Video Man stepped into a main corridor that had several sub-corridors leading to password-locked security doors: Cosmo Man and Shade Man were talking about something while sitting on cubes placed forming a circle as if it was a meeting and reunion point.

"To avoid leaks… Refrain from telling anyone. By the way. Zero. Who were those, anyway?" Slur asked.

"Some guys named "Black Corps"… They're a bunch of assaulters that got some fame in Shikoku and now have moved to Honshu… They've been around for years and I don't think they've got anything to do with Shadow Nova. They were so greedy. They do dirty jobs." Zero explained.

"THEY CANNOT DO A CLEAN JOB: HIRE MISTER CLEAN!"

"Serenade…!" Slur got annoyed again.

"Now, now! Boss! Your image…!" Zero tried to calm her down.

"… HMPF! LATER!"

"Didn't think she hated them that much. Guess she'll go complain to Serenade again and they'll get nowhere after a lengthy discussion. She can feel amusement in a battle but apart from that… Man."


	12. Chapter 12: Armored complications

**Chapter 12: Armored complications**

06:06 AM (Moscow Time), Monday October the 17th…

"… No anomalies?"

"Nothing, Comrade."

"Did you check the outer perimeter?"

"All's fine."

"Good. But I've got a bad feeling nevertheless. I want all troops awake and calling each other every 5 minutes. There'll be punishment for those who don't behave. It's a Level 3 state: imminent attack. They can come from anywhere and anytime."

"Roger."

Search Man (the real one) was speaking with a couple of Soldier Navis guarding one of the Sharo Army 13th Network Corps base's firewalls: he was issuing orders the whole time.

"Comrade… I've got news…" A soldier walked in.

"What is it?"

"I'm afraid that… you're a bit slow to catch up." The Navi sneered.

"You lowlife."

Search Man quickly aimed his Scope Gun and readied for battle along with the other 2.

BOOM!

"Warning, warning! Central Command Post compromised! There was a camouflaged VPN tunnel set there! 10 intruders! 5 Heel Navis, 4 Normal Navis, 1 unknown custom Navi!" A speaker claimed as sirens rang out after an explosion.

"Too late. Glory to Shadow Nova! Death will save us, but not this one! My role's been fulfilled! Glory to Lord Spiral!"

The Navi suddenly laughed as his core began to glow and he blew up: his pieces scattered around and Search Man formed a grimace as rage mounted up: there was another explosion close by so he took aim.

"Urra~h! Mugen Vulcan!"

"Dream Sword!"

"What! Mugro~h!"

"Gra~h!"

"Nyah, hah, hah! This is Shadow Nova's power!"

2 red Heel Navis ran in while having Program Advances ready: they attacked Search Man with those and hit him fully because he wasn't expecting those: the soldier Navis were deleted from the damage attained and Search Man hissed.

"Scope Gun! Satellite Cannon! Search Grenades!"

"What! Mugro~h!"

He shot through one's right shoulder as the satellite appeared behind another and hit the back and the grenades momentarily stunned them: he panted to recover.

"Search Man! Recovery 150, Slot In!" Laika announced.

"Roger, Laika – sama."

"Composure." Laika ordered.

Search Man focused and managed to regain his cold blood just as the enemies ran towards him for another attempt.

"Giga Cannon!"

"Elemental Sword!"

"You're not the only ones who can do this. Bodyguard!" Laika announced all of a sudden.

"What? Damn it!"

Search Man got hit but vanished with a puff of smoke and a boulder was left behind: he reappeared higher in the air and shot 5 _shuriken_ at each one with his left hand: his attacks hit each enemy's shoulders, hips and chest: he landed back and loaded up his Scope Gun to then shoot and pierce through the left one while the right one ran for it but was pierced by the Satellite Laser: Search Man scanned around.

"Enemies defeated. Area secured."

"What's the status?"

"It's odd."

"Odd?"

"The custom Navi was tagging with another of the Heel Navis but he suddenly attacked him and now's run off the base. Looks like he betrayed them…" A soldier reported.

"Odd indeed. Or is it a new tactic?" Laika wondered.

"Odd stuff here too! The 4 Normal Navis suddenly turned on the 2 Heel Navis and deleted them: they've run off too! And the VPN tunnel has been destroyed from the origin point so… There are no attackers left. We've lost 18 soldiers, though." Another soldier reported.

"Hmmm… Something's going on." Search Man muttered.

"Laika." A voice called out.

"Commander, sir."

"Come to my office. Search Man. You too. Go back to the PET."

"Roger, sir."

Search Man returned to Laika's PET and projected with the hologram as Laika followed Commander Malenkov into his office: he shut the door and signaled for Laika to sit down.

"I knew this attack was going to happen. I got two warning notices from different sources."

"And you allowed it to happen to make the enemy think they'd gotten away with it." Laika calmly guessed.

"Indeed. I knew that there would be Navis recruited from the general populace amongst them and that they would betray Shadow Nova to rush back to the origin base and be able to round them up… I'm not sure who those 4 were supposed to be or whom did they work for but… I think you'll recognize the custom Navi…" He explained as he typed into his laptop.

He booted up sensory image that showed Video Man shooting a roll of video-tape at a Heel Navi from behind and then spawning tape strings.

"Golden Star's Video Man…! They actually recruited a Navi from Golden Star?" He was surprised.

"The info said that the Heel Navi in charge of recruiting decided on looks and didn't bother to ask further. They were surely intending to dispose of them one the job was over… Talk about reversal of roles. Serves that lot well." Malenkov looked satisfied.

"Who was the human traitor?" Laika asked.

"A man named Folopov. Turned out he casually had a permit to go visit his ill mother at the city… Some background check revealed that his mother's been dead for 2 years already… And it'd seem the man had been placed here by the Seraphs as a second phase agent…"

"Second phase agent?"

"Remember those attempts by them to organize coups across the world and start their regime? That was the first phase. If they succeeded then these second phase men were to weaken the military Networks to slow down response and by the time the whole military figured out what was going on they'd already be under the control of the Seraphs' agents who'd rule over the nation." Malenkov explained.

"I see. So it's true that they're re-using personnel and materiel the Seraphs had… They've absorbed part of it and take profit of their strategic placement…"

"Indeed."

"We should've investigated them further but the top brass decided that since the coup had been foiled there was no need to. How _naïve_ of them."

"Speaking of which… I hope you keep your "assumptions" at bay and you haven't talked about it to anyone." Malenkov questioned.

"N-no, sir. I haven't told anyone but Search Man, sir."

"And… In case you didn't realize… Your actions back then lacked official permission and I later reduced your authority as punishment: the only way they'd allow me to remain here and you to continue here… Else we would be on the streets by now. They haven't forgotten, either. Any stupid move and we could end up badly." He turned icy.

Search Man rolled his eyes as if he'd seen it coming from time ago and didn't agree with Laika's behavior.

"Torolov will take care of things. Leave it up to him. You simply help patch up the damage and that's it. You're not taking a step out of this base without talking it to me. Understood? This is a warning as your uncle as well, Laika." He signaled him with the right hand's index finger.

"Y-yes, Uncle. Understood, sir." He was sweating, even.

"Fine. You're dismissed. Have some sleep: I'll tell the same to the rest of the men. Once we're all fresh and ready then we can work on things."

Laika stood up and saluted before exiting into the corridor where he spotted a fellow soldier waiting on the opposite wall.

"Hey. Laika."

"Ah. Torolov."

Torolov had brownish hair combed in a neat manner and brownish irises as well: his face profile indicated seriousness.

"I'm going to take care of investigating their traces: they seem to have a warehouse in the Moscow Internet City as well. We're going to surprise them there. No kidding, man. This is serious stuff."

11:18 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday October the 18th…

"… Shah, shah, shah! This place reeks, Burner Man. I know we chose it at random yet…"

"_Marchando_! You needn't tell me, Needle Man. I can feel it on the air: there's something."

Needle Man and Burner Man were inspecting a Cyber World warehouse somewhere and looking around.

"This darkness isn't normal. What's up with the lights, anyway? The power is alive." Needle Man pointed out.

"Of course not. It's a trap." Burner Man shrugged.

"Then… We trigger it?"

"Obviously."

"That container in the NE corner reeks. It's bigger and wider." Needle Man spotted.

"Fine. You cover me. I'll check it out. Expect the unexpected indeed. We should get ready for a brawl!"

"OK."

Both quietly headed for the container in question: Burner Man drew one of his burners and cut off the chains linked to the padlock and keeping it shut while Needle Man was ready to fire with both of his cannons as soon as the container opened: Burner Man placed his back against the right door and slowly began to pull it open with the left hand: Needle Man narrowed his eyes and steadied his aim: Burner Man finished opening the door and there were two sudden crimson flashes as two cubes began to glow deeper in: a growl rang out.

"Needle Cannon!"

Needle Man began to shoot in a row through the right arm cannon but, from the sounds of it, none met the target: there was a rumble followed by the whine of jet engines.

"What?"

Needle Man jumped into the air and warped atop the container as something shot out, taking out the still shut left door in the process and crushing the container ahead of it: both Needle Man and Burner Man prepared for battle.

"What the heck?"

"Shah, shah, shah! Gotta be that Infi-something robot!"

"Heck. Of all things."

"A Cyber World version, even… Sheesh."

The "Infinitus" robot that Eisei had battled some days ago was there and this version included a "face" drawn into the main body which included a couple of extensible arms with spinning circular saws on them: the robot howled like a wolf and jumped towards both of them so they dodged as they counter attacked at the incoming missiles: each missile, however, seemed to be able to know when it was being attacked because it changed its trajectory, surprising both of them: they kept on shooting back and jumping around but the missiles were relentless.

"Shit. They've got a guidance system or something like that: or maybe it's the robot itself that's smart enough to tell them how to dodge! Strike Burner!" Burner Man growled as he tried to shoot a stream of blue fire at a group of 3.

"Worse than those CIS drones during the Clone Wars!" Needle Man cursed next.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! This is the power of SHADOW NOVA!" Spiral laughed through the robot.

"Damn. And the genius comes to taunt us. As if we didn't have enough headaches." Burner Man growled.

"Standard attacks won't do and we'll run out of energies at this rate: let's switch to defense and then find a way to attack the robot. EM fields won't work, obviously enough." Needle Man whispered.

"Alright… It's gotta have a CPU somewhere: surely in the main body so if we could take it out then…"

"I'll be bait."

"Good. I'll jump out of sight and let the missiles hit me, I recover and try to sneak on the thing… Now!"

Burner Man jumped towards the space behind the containers and 6 missiles followed: 6 explosions followed and a groan of pain ensued: Needle Man got distracted in purpose and another 6 hit him as well: he groaned again.

"Damn!"

"I'll turn into you SCRAP!"

The robot began to swing its circular saws and its chainsaw arm at Needle Man: he ducked and managed to slide away by inches: he loaded up a Giga Cannon and tried to hit the back but the blast got deflected as the robot quickly turned around.

_Shah, shah, shah! It bothered to turn to repel my attack. That means that the defense is a frontal shield… I see! Like Ghor in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption…! Talk about rip-offs, man! But the problem is… If we expose that weakness now… It'll be deadlier by next time anyone has to fight with this thing! What do we do? Shit. _

"Burner Man…! If we attack the back now then next time it'll be deadlier…!" He whispered over the radio.

"Shit. You've got a point. Hmmm… Wait. Maybe if we attack from above they'll only think on protecting that? And the weakness would still be present nevertheless." He suggested.

"Or… From below."

"Leave it to me… Rip-off for rip-off… Go, Dugtrio! "Dig"!"

"So this is the best you can do? Hmpf." Spiral taunted.

"Fuck it." Needle Man cursed.

"Feel the fear and die like a fool!"

"Oh yeah? Never felt the fear in the battlefield?" Needle Man tried to taunt.

"Hmpf! Only someone ready to face the enemy can step into a battlefield and emerge victorious! And I'm that type of man!" Spiral didn't fall for that one.

The robot prepared to attack but the ground suddenly began to crack and it collapsed under its weight: the robot got stuck into a hole waist-deep and Burner Man dropped from above while holding a blade on both hands: he stabbed it into the robot's head and then drew his burners to heat up the head: the outer alloy reached its fusion temperature and began to melt as the sword began to slide deeper in: the robot was unable to move now and its defensive field shut down so Needle Man drew his body's needles and rammed at the front thus destroying the arms in the process: Burner Man lifted the sword and plunged it deeper.

"How's this for a change!"

"Damn it. Infinitus got beaten by the weakest!"

"Weakest? By the veteran! We were there when Golden Star was on the planning and growing!" Needle Man grinned.

"You underestimated us!"

"… Damn it all. First that of yesterday and now today…! Whatever. Next time Infinitus WILL be INVINCIBLE! And then you will DESPAIR and DIE! I swear! Retrieval!"

The robot was retrieved: they then clasped hands and grinned.

"Good job." Slur told them over the radio.

"Thank you very much!" Both replied.

"Hmpf. Invincible… Mere delusions of an arrogant mind… That will not stop us… And even less me. Or Kuroban. Or Burai. Or Serenade. Or Andy's Ryuusei Form… Hmmm… Maybe that man could as well."

"Slur – sama still can't avoid resent Forte, huh?" Needle Man asked Burner Man in a whisper.

"According to the _Danna_…" Burner Man sighed and rolled his eyes as if he felt defeated when it came to that topic.

"Huh? What are you talking about over there?" Slur questioned with some suspicion.

"N-nothing, ma'am! That we'll need to find a way to disable the shields on the rear as well next time… I'm sure they won't be as stupid to leave the back unprotected forever. It's going to be harder to chew: and maybe its speed will increase as well. We'd need to work out how fast we really are when it comes to processing movements in a chain."

"Ah. Good point. Bah. There shall be a way to. Return to _Purgatory_ and download your battle data so that we can go over it. The sooner we begin the sooner we will have some counter-measures ready. Hmpf. No – one is invincible and no robot is going to change that truth."

"Let's go meet Video Man after that and pick the next story." Burner Man told needle Man.

"Yeah. We gotta and we should begin the translation too."

"We could post some jokes in the blog in the meantime too!"

"Deal. Let's get moving! Shah, shah, shah!"

"Guts, guts! Guts Man came to beat the bad guys!" Guts Man burst in.

"Too late. It's already over." Burner Man grinned.

"Guts! I knew it! It was the curse of the second-handed CPU! Guts!"

"Not our problem, man! Go complain to whoever sold you that."

"Guts! Bubble Man! De guts! Get ready! Guts!"

"It had to be that little double-crossing rascal, huh?" Burner Man sighed.

"Shah, shah, shah. Yeah. I know. Oh well. Let's head back before Slur – sama runs out of patience. GS Nerds: on the move! Hah!"

10:44 AM (Philippines Time)…

"… You looked annoyed, sir."

"Huh? Ah. Ernst. Yeah. I am. Guess why?"

"Eisei?"

"Yeah. Meddling around as usual."

"He lied, I take it."

"Yeah. Said he had a lead on a warehouse those guys used but it was a lie to stalk the Hikari brothers."

"How brat-like. How immature."

"Yeah. But at least the guy managed to take out that piece of junk so I know what they'll throw at me."

"That's the only positive thing the guy's done recently, right?"

"Yeah. The only. My bad. I gotta be boring you with this talk. It's worthless to begin with."

"Not all, sir."

"You're not going to your town?"

"One of these days, yes. But I felt like I needed to be here to support you, sir."

"Do as you like. I won't force you to."

"Thank you, sir."

Kuroban was fuming as he leant on the handrail of a balcony built into the mountain that contained Shunoros' base: Ernst approached him from behind and kept a respectful distance as he talked: Kuroban glanced over his left shoulder from time to time to speak back to him but he didn't seem to be in the mood.

"By the way, sir… I was wondering… What led you to take over the "Seraphs"?"

"The Seraphs? Ah yeah. I remember. Well. Why not… I'll tell it to you: maybe it'll vent off my bad mood."

"I'd been wondering how you got access to such technology and…"

"Well. I should talk a bit about myself. Guess I never do it. Some years ago… Now's 2012 so… It was around 2007, I think… Well. I'd finished studying economics in Bangkok University and I'd also studied programming as a hobby… I began to investigate some documents my family had kept custody of that talked about a crypt somewhere containing a powerful artifact. My father had said that several ancestors of mine had tried to decipher it but had failed yet he had the hunch that the technology wasn't enough. He encouraged me to find and decode it because he thought I could do it."

"But that would mean it was…"

"An OOPArt, indeed!"

"Out Of Place Artifact…"

"Yeah. Because it contained _programming_. Done in a language that's almost vanished off the Earth by now… On'Setsu… Using ancient documents of my family and trying to apply the logic of current systems I managed to find the system tree and from there work on decoding its ramifications… And after I overcame no less than 5 passwords in the ancient On'Setsu language… I stumbled upon the core of the artifact: and there it was… A program like I'd never seen before… The power to turn one's body into an EM existence and freely move around the world without limitations… I named it "Denpa – Henkan" because I was interested in Japanese culture and I thought it sounded exotic. And after tweaking it a bit… I achieved this form. This battle armor."

"I see."

"That artifact was the mighty "Ultimate Orb", a secret weapon built in the late days of the On'Setsu Kingdom… And hidden so that our enemies would be unable to profane it… The crypt was hidden beneath several layers of ground and in the midst of a forest."

"Hide a leave in a forest."

"Good analogy! Hence why no – one stumbled upon it because no – one had the need to dig around there and there was no hint it was there… I thought that using this power I could bring back glory to our dynasty… And that I could resurrect the name On'Setsu and impress the world with it… But I alone wouldn't suffice and I needed something to use as base… That was when I found out about the Seraphs."

"And you decided to take over them?"

"I firstly thought of manipulating their leader, the Great Seraph, to do my bidding but… The man was old, decrepit and arrogant. To the point that he'd hired archaeologists to find the Holy Grail."

"T-the Holy Grail? Like in Indiana Jones?"

"Yeah. And like WWII Germany. So I decided that man would be a bother to my plans: and I put the man out of his misery. I made sure to spread rumors about him having appointed an heir amongst the org and didn't issue any orders for some months… I did some purging there and there to make the org run smoother… And then I thought I'd need a henchman that could easily move in and out of the under and stir up distractions if needed… Some searches led me to finding Gray… Having read on a police report his predisposition to "evil" I thought that he was fitting… I allowed him to be "buddy – buddy" because I knew I'd never be able to make him bow before me. But if I let him a bit loose then he wouldn't refuse to work for me. Hence why I tolerate the guy's manner of addressing me." He turned around and leant his back on the handrail while grinning.

"I see… And then you set up that "Charon Brotherhood"?"

"Yeah. I wanted something that would keep the police's and Golden Star's eyes away from the Seraphs for a while: until the Seraph Tower project reached its finishing stage… The Charon Brotherhood was made up by 3 members… The CO, named Dread Baron… Dullahan… And Styx. You might know him now as Atarasei Oscar…"

"And Styx would then become "Charon, the invincible thief", right?"

"Yeah. His mission was to secure some artifacts I was looking for: and needed for a plan of my own… In the meanwhile I knew I would have to increase the number of members of my dreamt "Elite Unit"… So I began to recruit people who had weak family ties and that didn't mind living elsewhere… Netsuhonoo, Kazebun and Kisei were found like that… Umisama was coincidentally washed into the Seraph HQ's island after a stormy night when he'd gone out with a boat… And I knew that a clash with Golden Star would happen… It was within my calculations. Seraph Tower left some impression but what happened next has left its sequels that can still be felt…"

"That "Mu Continent" which appeared on the skies…"

"Correct. After seeing how many of the Seraphs' coups across the world failed I decided that that org was done for and we ran off to establish Shunoros here, in this island. And you know the rest."

"Yet… How could ancient people build such artifacts? And how could they make a chunk of land float in the sky?" Ernst began to wonder while rubbing his chin.

"Oh, that. Well. I'll share it with you… It was… aliens." He let out after a dramatic pause.

"A-aliens?"

"Yeah. Aliens. They reached Earth millennia ago and approached the leaders of both tribes after seeing that they'd begun to take the first steps to understand things by logic instead of religion… They gave them materials and instructions as basis and told them to work with them: another millennia of ceaseless experimentation allowed Mu to achieve such power… While the On'Setsu Kingdom rather kept it for special uses and didn't boast about it…"

"So aliens do exist."

"Or did. I'm talking about millennia ago. Maybe they're extinct by now, even." Kuroban shrugged.

"Hum. I see…"

"In fact… That "portal" beyond the Kuiper Belt that allows one to skip directly into Kyutora… It's the work of those same aliens… They left a base in Kyutora and two here, on Earth… They're now dead citadels hidden in spots where no human would venture… I explored them and found remains of their history… But I'll tell you another day."

"Thank you for sharing so much with me."

"I'm sorry but I'll have to ask of you to keep this under wraps. It's very confidential. You can't tell your friend."

"I understand. Not like I told him anything about Kyutora either. Speaking of which: are you sure no – one's eavesdropping on us?"

"Sure. I set jammers all over the place to interfere with any surveillance systems. And I've got Killer Eyes patrolling the zone in a 5 km radius: air, land and sea. I'm not going to let them sneak on us like last time."

"Same trick won't work twice."

"Well said. That's the grace."

"Yet… Compared to past actions… The attack on the Sharo Army felt weak and poorly executed."

"Maybe it's a feint to make us think they lack the means. No. I'm sure they can do better than that. Slur told me they've got a Cyber World version of that piece of junk Gray beat and they're using that as means to know what to improve on the real one. I'm sure that they're staking a lot on that piece of junk and everything else is but distractions." Kuroban turned serious and rubbed his chin.

"Hum… Mass-production, maybe? Like that Shagohod in _MGS3: Snake Eater_…"

"I see. They could sell them to belligerent states and destroy the balance of forces in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Spiral gives off the vibe of being former military so the guy surely knows how to answer to militaries' desires and such." Kuroban deduced.

"It's but a hypothesis." Ernst reminded him.

"You're right but we can't discard anything at this stage."

"Understood. I'll go train."

"Good. See you later."

Ernst stepped away while Kuroban looked like he was thinking about it: he rubbed his chin.

"What would be these guys' goal? I don't think it's just plain terrorism: that must be a distraction. There's something else. But they're being very careful to keep it concealed. Surely only Spiral and that Void rascal know what it's about to avoid leaks. Maybe the members only know Spiral and never get to see or hear Void. Like how many of the BO members have heard about "Ano kata" and know the mail address but haven't heard them or seen them save for the very hi-rank members… Would that mean that Spiral is supposed in a status similar to that of Gin? Could be. Whatever it is that you plot… I'll make pieces out of it: the royal blood flowing on me swears you this… And by the High One! Its wrath will turn you nothingness." He began to mutter before gripping the right fist and closing it.

_You'll soon realize how foolish it was to become enemies of the High One! And of the Four Heavenly Kings! Hmpf!_

"Eh… Prince, sir?" Kisei walked in.

"Kisei. Do you feel recovered? Don't push yourself. That of a few days ago was very brutal."

"I know, sir. It's just that…"

"Don't feel ashamed for having been caught. No – one could've suspected that the man in front of you was an imposter to begin with. Forget about it already and try to focus on your hobbies."

"My hobbies… Guess that. I'll go to the Botanic Museum. But I'll leave the line open if you need to summon us, sir."

"Good. Feel free to come and go. And if you find eyesores like proxies of those rascals… Go ahead and use them as nutrients. Hmpf."

13:54 PM (Bangkok Time)…

"… We apologize."

"You need not, my warriors. You did what you could: if you could not gather information then that is because they no longer plan on operating on Bangkok."

"We understand."

"You are dismissed and you can remove your "skins" now."

"Roger."

XY was talking with the 4 Warriors inside of the gigantic "city" which was where he and Helios lived: the 4 Warriors, kneeling in front of him, looked up and stood up as their bodies glowed.

"Return to your posts and do not neglect the training."

"Roger."

The 4 Warriors turned out to be the very same ones who'd challenged Rock Man in Pharaoh Man's pyramid years ago: they were Guts Style, Shield Style, Brother Style and Custom Style and each one had an attribute associated to them.

"Lord XY?" Guts Style asked.

"What is it, Red Warrior?"

"What is that lot's goal? What do they hope to achieve?" He politely asked while looking worried.

"If we knew that… Things would be easier. Much easier. Believe me. I know what I say." XY sighed.

"That attack into that base felt like an attempt to fill them with paranoia and fear instead of an attack to destroy them. The numbers were too little and they relied too much on cache Program Advances." Custom Style exposed his opinion.

"That robot must be a distraction too." Shield Style muttered.

"They must be operating from somewhere. Maybe some abandoned base or city? Or a forgotten refuge?" Brother Style wondered.

"Hum… You just reminded me of somewhere… We should investigate it but you need not go out. I will send a remote unit."

"Acknowledged."

The 4 Warriors bowed and walked away while continuing their discussion in a whispered tone of voice: XY headed for the central box and opened the curtains to reveal a stone throne set inside: there were a set of spiraling staircases leading down built behind it so he descended them and ended up in a small dome-shaped room that had nothing: he headed north and across a corridor into a wide round room that had all kind of machines and devices accumulated there and there: holographic screens displayed simulations of experiments and unknown glyphs described what was going on: XY stopped at the entrance and looked around.

"Master Helios?"

"I am here. Section 3 – D."

"Understood."

XY walked down a central corridor and stopped at the third fork: he headed right and a bit down to find Helios interacting with a cylindrical machine that produced holograms of what seemed to be "hyper-space" travel: some objects were displayed in the graph and had annotations to them: Helios looked absorbed on studying them.

"As you can see I will not let some fools distract me from my ceaseless researches. I am studying the effects of faster-than-light travel on heavy bodies… How much energy they would need to plunge into it and if there was a way to detect that "entrance"… Be it dark matter, X – ray, gamma rays… There should be some trace left: our normal ships did leave a "ring" of gamma rays upon entering and exiting it… But heavier mass would mean that the force inflicted upon the time-space fabric would be greater and its effects should be felt for several days." He explained.

"Duo?" XY asked.

"Yes. I know Duo never had hyper-space technology and its max speed is but a fifth of the speed of light yet… Suppose some civilization we do not know of sends a behemoth like that across the galaxy… It would have a limit to how much distance it can travel proportional to its mass and energy… If it tries to force it its atoms would start shifting out and in of the "hyper-space" and it could eventually end up collapsing unto itself because it would lack its atomic structure keeping it in one piece."

"Hum. I see, my Master. So you need my help to compute possible formulae needed to perform that feat?"

"Yes. As usual, you are the one who is more fitted to hi-speed processing and calculation. I might have become a Network Navigator myself but I still retain my limitations of when I was of flesh and blood." Helios calmly told him.

"Understood. Please wait a minute. I want to dispatch a system to inspect a location that could be one of their bases. I have a hunch of a possible location."

"There is no rush." Helios calmly replied.

"Thank you very much."

XY headed for another section of the laboratory and interacted with a spherical device hovering on the air: it formed a "ghost" of it itself which soon vanished and a circular holographic display formed around XY: it turned on and displayed 360º view of an unlit and abandoned location somewhere.

"IR mode: on." XY ordered.

The surroundings changed to display the view in IR and soon enough a heat signature was picked up: XY made the machine approach it and since there was another heat signature that, going by the shape, could be a spotlight, he turned off IR to see that the heat signature was Spiral: he was inspecting one of many devices aligned in the middle of a room somewhere.

"Like I thought…" XY muttered.

The device consisted on a chair having a bulky cubical machine attached behind it: the chair included a helmet-like device hanging from above it and armrests coupled with footrests: most of it looked worn down and broken given the holes present in the cubical machine.

"… No use. This was self-destructed using our same method of acid sulfuric combined with C4… I can't retrieve anything from these to begin with." Spiral was muttering in Russian.

_So he is a Russian. Maybe former KGB or SMERSH? _

"Question remains, though… Who built these and for what?"

_Hmpf. I know what they are but you will never figure it out. Because only a few selected know the truth…_

"The helmet thing seems to suggest it could work upon the brain but as for the rest of these tubes and deposits… Psychological experiments by the Ameroupe Army? Brainwash? Interrogation? Torture? These being placed here must be no coincidence. Unfortunately it looks like I'll have to go back empty-handed to Lord Void. I can retrieve one of these and take some days taking it apart in detail to see if I can figure out anything but then again I don't think so." He stood up (he'd been crouching next to it) and grumbled.

_Do us a favor and take it with you._

"… Bah. Why bother? It's a piece of junk. And maybe it was a failed project so they left it here to rot. Why should we rely on this junk, anyway? Not worth the time or effort." He switched his mind.

_Hum. Not so fortunate… Whatever. There will be opportunities. Sooner or later you will lower the guard. No – one is perfect!_

"Still… I haven't managed to figure out who that man on that Polaroid is and who wrote "eliminate" on purple ink behind it… Sounds like it was someone important: an interloper? Dunno. I'm sure the Army swept through the place back then and only overlooked the Polaroid because it was hidden in a small secret compartment in one wall. I found it out of sheer luck." Spiral mumbled.

He began to look around, mistrusting, and seemed to be quietly listening in but gave up soon enough.

"I can't let paranoia get to me or I'll be laughed at. And Lord Void wouldn't like that in the least. Let's pull out and get back to the base so I can resume upgrading Infinitus. This time… It'll be invincible! And I'll show it to my old bosses who laughed at it… Oh yeah… The face of fear, despair and terror that they'll make before they're SLAUGHTERED! It's time for my revenge to be fulfilled…! I've had to wait a long time but it was worth it: nobody will get on the way… And after those are out of the equation then I can focus on the main campaign…" He eagerly muttered.

_Hmpf. How foolish… So what motivates you to build that robot is because you want to use it to pay back the humiliation your superiors inflicted to you time ago. But now that we know your true origin we can dig deeper…_

"Shit. This place's freezing. And then they say this region is summer all year round. As expected of the capitalistic rascals. Always gloating and all and lying… I swear that if feels colder than Moscow! By the Motherland: what a scam!" He cursed next.

He shut down the spotlight and stuffed inside of an open case: he then drew a Makarov gun with silencer and removed the safety as he carried on his right hand and the case with the left one: his sunglasses began to glow and it was obvious they had an IR function built into them.

_You will not detect the "Overseer"… Because it is a cybernetic body that does not emit heat… I simply grabbed its core program and created an "instance" of it that can gather imagery and send it to this computer that processes it and creates this 360º panorama. _

Spiral headed up some stairs into an empty hall and exited through a slightly opened door: he closed it and shut the padlock again to exit into a deserted street somewhere: a few low-rise buildings could be seen standing there and there along with unfinished constructions.

_According to the records this was supposed to be an urbanization next to a ski station but the company bankrupted and it was abandoned without having been populated… _

"… This place is chilling, too!" Spiral was complaining.

_It is no wonder that those folk had it easy to build a base underneath this place… A ghost district… And it would seem this is not their base but then again I did not expect it to be._

Spiral carefully advanced while taking cover every a few steps to scan the terrain: there was the sound of a can falling and rolling so he aimed his gun and shot in that direction: there was a cat's scream and Spiral cursed under his breath as he crossed the main street and realized he'd only shot a wild cat.

"Bah. They'll think it was some crazed brat playing around with a gun: why would they bother to look too much into it? If anyone ever drops by to begin with."

Spiral drew a flash-bang grenade and threw it followed by a chaff grenade: the flash and the chaff momentarily interfered with the live feed and when it reconnected he was gone.

_He surely used those to hide a Dimensional Converter. It matters not: I shall find you again sooner or later… In the name of Master Helios…! Hmpf…_

"I see." Helios stepped in.

"Master Helios." He calmly turned and bowed.

"Stop bowing like you were my servant. You are my laboratory assistant: do not forget that. Assistants need not to bow. Did you any of your comrades do that?" Helios insisted.

"No, Master." He admitted.

"Then just greet me and that will do it. We know each other inside out, anyway. Is there any need to pretend by now?"

"No, Master."

"Good. Then let us work on those simulations. The lot can wait."

"Understood. By your will, Master Helios. That lot will soon be history…"


	13. Chapter 13: Wiping off tension

**Chapter 13: Wiping off tension**

10:11 AM (Japan Time), Thursday October the 20th…

"… Oh yeah! I missed this thrill…"

"Heh! As masochist as always, Sieg!"

"Sure, _Danna_~…"

"And you don't even notice how I'm pulling these, eh?"

"Or how I'm hitting your balls with the racket."

"It tickles! By the ugly fellow!"

"Heh! Good one!"

Sieg, Yanada, Urateido and Eisei were present in an underground room somewhere lit by purple candles thus creating a creepy atmosphere.

The room's walls contained all kind of ropes, chains, and S&amp;M accessories plus a lot of sexual toys.

The middle of it contained a triangular wooden horse with a metallic top edge and a thick spinning red silicon vibrator built into it.

Sieg was currently sitting atop the horse and the vibrator was plunging into his ass.

Sieg had been stripped naked and tied in the so-called "turtle shell bondage" style using crimson ropes: a couple of them extended from behind the neck and were tightly tied around Sieg's wrists thus keeping his arms locked.

Sieg also had a black wool blindfold on followed by a small metallic cups on his nipples: each cup had a small 5kg weight attached to below it so that they would pull down the nipples' skin: they were linked a by very thin chain emerging from each one and which conveyed into a small ring: another chain emerged from there and could be pulled.

His balls had some black leathers bands circling it from all sides and emerging it from a small belt on the base of his cock.

His cock had a urethra vibrator stuffed into it and which had four legs tied to the base of the cock as support: eight clothes pegs had been clipped on both the SE and SW corners of his balls as well.

Yanada was standing on a couple of metallic steps placed behind the horse and sliding his cock in and out of Sieg's remaining ass space: Eisei was pulling the nipples' chain in the meanwhile while Urateido used a ping-pong racket to smack the sides of his balls.

"Samuel &amp; company! Remember that the room must be free and cleansed before 10:40!" A woman called out from the outside.

"Gotcha, mom!" Urateido replied.

"Roger, Mistress." Eisei gallantly replied.

"Now that's the way I like being called. Good job, 50 Shades of Gray!"

"Mistress! That joke isn't funny!" He complained.

"Oh boy." The other three sighed.

"Who cares?"

"I do! Mistress! Please spare me!" He requested.

"Oh well. You beg so badly I _might_ spare you."

"Might…? Oh come on…" He groaned.

"Tee, heh, heh."

"Why did you have to tell her my alias to begin with?" Eisei complained to Urateido.

"I never did!" He protested back.

"Oh, I just heard your boss calling you that one day." She let out with a giggle.

"_Aibou_…! Way to spoil it!" He grumbled.

"I'll be at the ground floor. But remember: all ready before 10:40! And you know I check the time!" She reminded them.

"Yes, ma'am!" The other 3 replied.

"I know, mom!" Urateido replied.

"Good. See ya, Club of the Fallen Quartet! Nyah, hah, hah, hah!"

"How brilliant of ya, mom!" Urateido grumbled under his breath.

"Really… I know Sieg's the fallen noble but…" Yanada rolled his eyes.

"Is the Mistress always like that?" Eisei asked.

"Sure thing. ALWAYS. Thought you'd caught up by now." Urateido admitted with a sigh.

"Guess I hadn't and I'm slow." Eisei fumed.

"Let's check the blog… Well, well. They say they're going to have a break of M &amp; F for a while and instead will publish some jokes gathered from there and there… Let's see… "The station's some clicks away from the village. An old stingy man stops a taxi. "How much to drive me to the station?"… "500 Z, sir."… "And how much to drive the suitcase to the station?"… "Nothing, sir."… "Good. Then drive the suitcase there and I'll go on foot."… Hah, hah. Talk about a stingy guy indeed." Urateido read and chuckled.

"Subtle." Sieg laughed.

"Sure." Yanada snickered.

"Another one… "Hey… _Danna_… Is there a cop around?"… "Not as far as I can see…"… "Good. Gimme all your money!"… Turns out it's a prudent thief who wants to make sure there are no cops!"

"Prudent indeed." Eisei snickered next.

"… They ask a student to guess a bird's type but the cage's covered with a cloth: only the legs can be seen… "Dunno."… "You don't pass. What's your name?"… The student sticks out a leg. "Guess it!"…"

"Revenge of the _Danna_!" Sieg made up some title.

"Why not?" Urateido chuckled.

"Coming! Hah!"

Yanada released inside of Sieg and chuckled as he stepped back and placed his cock back inside of his boxers: he picked a string of anal beads and stuffed one inside: Sieg's ass muscles began to suck the rest up.

"I missed this feelin' too!"

"Another one… A hen walks into a very stingy guy's garden. "We could have it as lunch!" his wife suggests. "Wait 'till tomorrow. Maybe we'll get free eggs for breakfast!" the husband replies… Heh! Talk about stingy!"

"Yet another… A teacher asks a student: "Quote me from something from _Don Quixote_."… The students asks his pal: "Quote me something! I don't know anything about it!"… "Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember…"… "Try to remember it or they're gonna tell me I don't pass!"… Heh, heh! I'd heard of that _Don Quixote_: a very crazy parody of the knight tales."

"Yeah. I'd heard of it too. Oops. 11:29! We should wrap up and cleanse up to have it free by 11:40." Eisei checked the time using the PET's display.

"Alright. Off you go!"

"Heh!"

Urateido released the belt on the base of Sieg's cock and pulled out the vibrator: Sieg released several spurts that landed on his chest and let out an exhale signaling pleasure: he chuckled as the other three began to take out the stuff and untied him: they sat him on a normal chair to give him time to recover: he took off the blindfold and blinked a bit to get used to the dim lightning: he shrugged and headed towards the south end where his clothes were neatly piled atop a chair: he whistled as he dressed back while Urateido picked a mop and washed the ground around the horse: Eisei cleansed the vibrator and applied disinfectant alcohol to it using a cloth: Yanada rolled up the rope and placed it on a box labelled "TO CLEANSE": he then picked the blindfold and tossed it on the same box: Eisei cleansed and disinfected the cock bands and the vibrator while Urateido did the same for the clothes pegs.

"Alright. It's all clean and ready for the next session. It's 11:34 so let's move out. Time for a foursome in Mario Kart!" Urateido announced with a grin.

"Oh yeah. Today I beat that Shizuoka racer!" Yanada laughed.

"Heh! Let that Sapporo guy show up: I'll raze the guy!" Sieg grinned.

"Let's go!"

They exited into a small hall and climbed up some stairs into the ground floor which was a wide store having all kind of stuff related to sex: they ignored that and headed for a door to the right of the counter to enter the house space: they all took off their sneakers and put on slippers before racing upstairs into a room which obviously was Urateido's.

"Racing time: on!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Let's go!"

"Kartin' time!"

They all sat on cushions placed in front of a Wii console and picked the remotes: the game booted and each began to select their respective kart with the pilot.

"Mine's Koopa – sama!" Urateido announced.

"Mine's Charon! The bones guy!" Eisei exclaimed.

"An homage to Atarasei?" Sieg grinned.

"Sure thing. Heh, heh!"

"OK! Mine's King Teresa!"

"And mine's Koopa Jr.!"

"Course's the Wario Mines! It's golden minin' time! I'm Wario the King of Gold! And this is the Golden Mine of Mine Golden!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Let's go!"

"Good! 8 players online… From all across Japan… Let's go show 'em what the bad guys can do!" Urateido laughed.

"Ready…!"

"Fire!"

The race began and everyone focused on the driving while using items.

"Grah! That's not fair, Sieg! You should've thrown the red shell to someone else!"

"Too bad, Danna!"

"Heck! Eisei! That golden mushroom should be MINE!"

"Too bad! Junior! I'm Golden Man!"

"Bring it on!"

"As you wish! ORRA~H!"

"Marra~h!"

"Mom!"

"Tee, heh, heh!"

"Mistress…! Please! Don't spoil the mood! We did cleanse and leave it free on time, didn't we?" Eisei groaned.

"I like teasing you bad guys."

"Yes, Mistress…!" They sighed in defeat.

"Mom…! What have we done to deserve this?" Urateido asked.

"Nothing. Maybe you should blame a momentary mood. Maybe that Uncle Moriarty of cha guys is to blame? Rah, hah, tah! Hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh!" She laughed in a weird way.

She could be heard stepping away while the four guys sighed in defeat: Urateido's mom was too much for them to handle, even…

12:32 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Well, well, well. Uncle Merton brings news from the abode of news and not news!"

"Superintendent Oda…!"

"Oh boy."

"Obihiro – kun! Got some news for you: your club has 333 members and they want to give you a golden mushroom as present!"

"Oh yes?"

"Meijin – kun: did you start up that rock band?"

"I never said I would!"

"Sheesh."

"A joke! "Hey… Why are you so healthy?"… "I don't discuss."… "Surely that isn't the case!"… "Well. Surely that isn't the case."…"

"So the point is that the healthy person doesn't know the why. Talk about "subtle", huh?"

"Yessir!"

Superintendent Oda walked into an office inside of the Net Police Cyber CID section and found Obihiro Shun (about 15 years old) working with a PC next to Meijin: he began to joke and both groaned as he told them a joke: Obihiro rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Another one! "My father hasn't cut his hair in 10 years."… "Is he a hippie?"… "No, he's bald."…"

"Hippie… Yeah… Sure… Someone build a shelter!" Obihiro groaned.

"… A kid to sailor… "When's hi tide?"… "Told you already… At 5:55 PM! Did you forget?"… "No! I like how your moustache moves when you say "5:55 PM"!"…"

"Bad kid, sure."

"… The housewife to the governess she's hired… "Are you sure you know how to educate modern children?"… "Yes, ma'am, I only hit them in self-defense."…"

"You call that education? Hitting them? Oh come on."

"… Two kids stare at a train. "If that was made up of chocolate where'd you start to eat?"… "The wheels. So that it doesn't run away."…"

"How brilliant of him."

"… "Mom, why is dad so bald?"… "Because he's smart and must think of many things."… "And why do you have so much hair?"… "Finish the soup."…"

"What kind of explanation is that? It makes it sound like she herself isn't smart enough." Meijin sighed.

"… "Dad: the thermometer's dropped…"… "A lot?"… "Well, yeah, about 10 meters. It fell into the ground."…"

"So it _did_ drop. Literally." Obihiro muttered.

"… The father to his children. "If you promise me that you won't smoke until you turn 21 then I'll give you 100,000 Z."… The eldest daughter, 17, rejoices. "100,000 Z! I promise, dad!"… The second son, 15… "I'll have to think about it… Still 6 years ahead of me…"… The father addresses the youngest, 10, who looks worried. "What about you?"… "Too bad, Dad…! Too late."…"

"Oh by the… He smoked at only 10 years old?"

"Surely must've been some bad influence by someone…"

"… The mother to the child. "Go wash your face because your aunt's coming."… "But if I do that and she doesn't come then what?"…"

"Good point. But washing your face is good, anyway, so…"

"… A medic to the patient. "If you want to live longer than you'll have to drink more water than wine."… "I'd blow up if did that, Doctor: I already drink 5L of wine each day."…"

"5L of wine? How surprising that he's not drunk." Obihiro gasped.

"This one is too exaggerated to begin with."

"… A patient to the surgeon before an appendicitis operation… "Can I play the guitar after the surgery?"… "Of course."… "Excellent! I never managed to play it before."…"

"So he thinks the surgery will allow him to play the guitar? Where'd he get the idea, anyway?"

"Dunno." Punk grumbled.

"… Oh well. I thought it would cheer you up but it doesn't seem to be the case: the tension is still too high." Oda sighed.

"Ah! W-well…" They gasped.

"I think you're a bit slow to catch up, you guys… I bothered to memorize them for your sake and…"

"W-we're sorry. It's just that…"

"It didn't cross your mind. Oh well. What do we know?"

"Not much. I've tried digging into Sharo archives but maybe Spiral worked there before the digitalization and therefore his file is on paper and kept in some archive. Maybe the man is older than we think and is on his 40s or 50s… Sounds like he'd been in some agency before the collapse and maybe he then drifted the world…"

"Hum. It's 2012. The collapse happened in 1989. That's a bit over 20 years ago. 40s seems like it… Maybe he was on his 20s when the collapse and sought job elsewhere…"

"Maybe the man is planning on making a move soon enough to go get back at that time's superiors… If they're still alive, though… Maybe some have died already… Or maybe they've retired from duty." Meijin guessed.

"Could be." Oda shrugged.

"Ah. Superintendent Oda. Good morning." Enzan came in.

"Did you find anything, Ijuuin – kun?"

"Yes. A connection."

"What connection?"

"Do you remember that some time ago we arrested an agent of the Seraphs who went by the codename Splinter?"

"I do."

"I thought that since the man was Russian too then he might know…"

"And?"

"He confirmed that Spiral had been one of his disciples when at the KGB in the early 1980s. He seems to think Spiral was on his 20s back then so he think he's on his 40s by now. When I played back quotes by the man he admitted those were things he himself had taught Spiral. But he doesn't know his true name. He was already Spiral when he joined the KGB and it was the custom that most of the recruits would use aliases for added security." Enzan explained.

"So Spiral is a name he made up long ago and it doesn't bear any meaning within Shadow Nova."

"He admitted that he'd suggested to him that he work for the Seraphs too: given how he was younger and all they assigned him several missions across the globe… Last time they met was 6 years ago in St. Petersburg: Spiral said that most of Splinter's teachings had been correct. When questioned by Splinter he admitted that he didn't think that the Soviet Union was coming back. He said he'd become a mercenary and one day he'd manage to fulfill his words of back then…"

"And what were those?"

"… "One day robots will fight in the battlefields. Robots will crush and destroy our enemies. And robots will be the new tools of war."… But he was always laughed at by the other top brass… Splinter never said what he thought of it so as to not to ruin their relationship… He hasn't seen or heard of him ever since then." Blues quoted.

"Hum. I see. Maybe he caught wind of Wily… Wily did try to find a sponsor to his robotics projects but no – one took him seriously no matter where he went to… And, eventually, fed up with that, established the WWW to try to destroy the world. And he died in the explosion of the Dream Virus 5 years ago." Oda rubbed his chin.

"Speaking of which… Was the body found in the end?" Obihiro asked.

"It was. But for some reason it was heavily classified. Maybe they hoped that, by not officially confirming his death, they could lure WWW members into making a move and catch them… It later proved to be a waste of time and energies… The only ones that popped out where Elec Man and that Bomber Man guy… And they got deleted that same day."

"By the "other" Forte… Well. I mean "other" in terms of personality, not of body…" Obihiro muttered.

"Had I known that then I'd immediately realized that the "Wily" onboard the _Scherezade Symphony_ had to be a fake. Ironically enough, I ended up believing the rumor that he'd escaped by inches and had been lying low somewhere… I only found out a couple months ago after Chief Sorodo put some pressure… As if they feared that the corpse would come alive…"

"What useless paranoia." Enzan agreed on it.

"Oh well! Wily's dead and so there's nothing to worry about the WWW: Elec Man's Operator, Count Elec, was found and arrested a few months later as well. The only ones we didn't catch back then were those 3 of the car names… No wonder since they'd ditched the gang…" He shrugged.

"I'll keep on digging around to see if I can find any record in the Seraphs' databases regarding what Spiral did during the 90s and the past decade."

"Ring me if you need help with passwords." Obihiro offered.

"Delighted. Let's go, Blues. Time to slice some walls."

"…"Utterly Ugly Butterfly: delighted to ugly you!"… Why would this be on the Seraphs' Japan agents list, anyway?" Obihiro complained.

"My, my. Maybe Uncle Readout wrote that. Heh, heh!"

17:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff. Home, sweet home. Kei, Jake… You at home?"

"Yes, Father."

"You look beaten."

"We might've figured out that man's past but that brings us no closer to figuring out where he's at."

"I see."

"That's a pity."

"Yes. I swear upon my name that I'm not going to give up either… And that's Daikani Andros for you."

A man named Daikani stepped into a house's living room and sat on an armchair while sighing.

He looked on his late fifties, had blackish hair and brownish eye irises.

He wore a simple black suit, a blue tie and pants along with brown shoes.

"Did you know about that other man before?"

"No, Kei. I know I was employed by a proxy company of the Seraphs but then Prince Kuroban assigned me to lead the Charon Brotherhood… Or more like to keep watch over those 2. I never knew what other agents there were out there."

"I see…"

There were 2 teens who appealed as being his sons and sitting on a sofa: both wore high school uniform.

Kei had black neatly arranged hair and brown irises.

"Thought as much…"

"Why didn't you tell me, Jake?"

"Well, Kei – niisan… I thought it was pointless."

Jake, on the other hand, had black messy hair and brown irises: he could be a few inches shorter in height than his brother.

"Oh well. The man will eventually make a move: we only need to wait."

"Yes, but… Maybe he intends to focus all attention on him while the big boss works on something deadlier behind the scenes?"

"Good point. We still don't know anything about "Void", who they are and what they ultimately intend. Insofar everything seems to be spearheaded by Spiral so… He must stalling for time…"

"Surely… Typical: they ready something deadly and highly destructive and unleash it to raze it all…" Jake grumbled.

"Yes. It's not too far-fetched."

Daikani's phone rang so he drew it and headed for the balcony door to answer it.

"Yes, it's me. What's the matter, Mr. President? What? Already? When, how? … I see… We thought they would arm a scandal in the midst of the town but preferred to do it away from others' eyes… Well. What's done is done. No use crying over spilled milk. At least now we know the man will be going back the main campaign and will show up to challenge us sooner or later… Yes… Yes… Understood. See you tomorrow." He spoke with President Hades about something.

"Uh-oh." Kei and Jake apparently realized what had happened.

"… It'd seem the enemy is as fast as the wind…"

"Already?"

"Yes. The Sharo Army was called because someone heard explosions coming from a cottage about 1 kilometer away from a small village: they found the placed razed and six dead. One of their phones was still working so they could see that he'd gotten a mail from the cottage owner inviting him there. And it's assumed that the same happened to the other 5."

"So he gathered them in a quiet place and destroyed it with the robot…"

"What did you mean by "away from others' eyes"?" Jake asked.

"We'd speculated he might force his way into the Secret Service HQ…"

"And make a display of power in front of everyone?"

"Yes. But it'd seem that we miscalculated the man's intentions. Now we know he'll get back to the "main campaign" and do something."

"Have they done anything noticeable as of late?"

"Oh yes. Set fire to real-world warehouses to destroy all incriminating materiel and delete virtual warehouses as well. It'd seem that they realized using them made them easy to find so they'll be shifting to another way of storing materiel."

"Maybe containers?" Kei suggested.

"We searched a lot but found nothing."

"Maybe they use those storage rooms for hire that some companies offer: I've seen adverts of that from time to time on the street." Jake offered.

"Hum… Could be. They could be using proxy companies as disguise and give them sealed boxes disguised as common stuff… They entrust those to the company for a few days and then retrieve it… Maybe they pose as a store that keeps stock there before moving it to the store…" Daikani thought about it.

"Maybe it's worth a try?"

"I think so. I'll send a mail… Wait a minute."

He walked out of the room and the brothers sighed: Jake stood up and headed to the balcony to look out: he saw nothing of interest and turned back to face Kei: he'd barely taken two steps towards him when he brusquely turned around: there still was nothing.

"What's wrong, Jake?"

"Huh… I had the feeling that there was something atop a roof…" He muttered, unsure.

"Maybe it was a bird."

"Guess that."

He shrugged and headed out to the right: Daikani came back in while eating a cookie.

"I needed something. I had a scare lunch today: lately we're very busy."

"Busy doesn't justify starving yourself, Father." Kei told him while sighing and rolling his eyes.

"I know. But it feels like there's no time."

"But isn't Zero the one who does the actual search?"

"Of course: but we go over the results and check each place and company and all ourselves by going into the public registers… Zero gathers info and classifies it but is busy by gathering the info alone. Someone has to tell him what must go into the "further investigation" list and thus set some priorities." He explained.

"I see. But then again that doesn't mean you need to starve yourself: you're not like Holmes."

"Oh no! I never intended to imitate Holmes."

"Guess that, Father… Oh yeah… By the way… Whose ideas was it? Your outfit of "Dread Baron"…" Jake came back while wiping his hands.

"The Prince claimed it was his but… I think Eisei was involved at some point… At that time Eisei was rather competent since he had a lot of pressure on him. I guess that the increase in members lead him to stopping caring about being competent."

"Dullahan must've been hard to handle."

"HUFF! Dullahan. Most stubborn man ever. Looked like a paranoid agent of some 70s movie: always trying to make it look like Atarasei was up to no good and all. I'd been warned beforehand that he'd behave like that to begin with so… I simply ignored him. But it was hard and the man got the best of my patience more than once."

"Yeah. I saw it." Jake recalled.

"Glad that XY fellow decided to keep him: it was a bad element for the Prince's health as well. Had the man stayed there much longer I'm sure the Prince's nerves would be wrecked."

"By the way… Whose side is that XY on, anyway? He feels so enigmatic and contradictory… With the "Ghost Server" and all…"

"The "Ghost Server" was an experiment to measure the greediness and arrogance of people… A small-scale one… But also used it to benefit other parties like us or the Prince…"

"Hum. Sounds like the guy's not the usual type."

"So it'd seem. I don't know details either. I guess it's somewhat complicated and has its background."

"Guess that." Kei shrugged.

"Huh? Mail? Sheesh. Eisei. Speaking of the devil." Jake grumbled as his PET vibrated.

"What now?"

"… "Dig. (Deep meaning)."… Not another Nico Nico joke. They get tiresome."

"Oh yeah. That and the mishearing jokes."

"What next? Sheesh. Dunno where he got this one… "If you'd gone ahead and transferred him then our hero would be inside of a wall in those ruins!"… "AH! You promised to keep it secret, didn't you?"… Inside of a wall: GAME OVER! ... Yeah. It surely can't be nice to suddenly find yourself trapped inside of a wall. And this too much… Suggests that the best names for a couple of babies are "Crime" and "Punishment"!"

"The Prince will have another streak of rage. He doesn't deserve this to."

"Next time I see the guy I'll…! I'll turn the guy's hair PINK!" Jake cursed.

"Calm down!" Kei sighed.

18:28 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Been a while since we'd gathered here, Yaito – chan. Did you grow up roses?"

"Roses? What for?"

"Who knows?"

"Are you trying to convey me some message?"

"Ask Gliding Butler."

"Ma'am!"

"Gliding Butler? Oh come on. Meiru. Not again."

"He'll patent Gliding _Butter_."

"What a lame pun."

"Meiru – chan, you _BAKA_!"

"What was that? Rhapsody in Pink!"

"I HATE THAT NAME!"

"Oi, oi. Is she the real one, Netto?"

"Yeah, Dekao. She's human alright."

"And here I thought we could shake off tension… Why do these things always backfire on me? What have I done?"

"Oh boy."

The usual group of Netto, Saito, Meiru, Yaito, Dekao and Hikawa had gathered on Yaito's tree-house: Meiru dully looked around before asking an odd question: Yaito frowned at it and Meiru shrugged as she came up with a joke followed by a pun: Glyde gasped in horror and Roll got annoyed on the spot so Meiru countered with a nickname Roll couldn't stand and a discussion began between the two of them: Dekao was panicking by now and asking Netto if Meiru was the real one: Yaito sighed, depressed, while Hikawa sighed in defeat.

"That "Queen" behavior of yours ain't gonna help you get better scores!"

"Who cares?"

"Your parents must do! They want you to be a successful student!"

"I decide that!"

"No, they decide!"

"Go play with that Grey guy!"

"HEY! THAT WAS RUDE OF YOU!"

"YOU SURE WANT SOME OF THAT!"

"… Let's wait outside. Follow us, guys." Saito sighed.

The guys left and Yaito remained as if trying to figure out how to calm them down.

"What do I do, Yaito – sama?"

"Huff. Just leave for now."

"R-roger."

"I DON'T!"

"YOU WANT ROCKY – SAMA TO DO IT TO YOU! SO GO DO IT!"

"HEY!"

"Huh… Meiru – chan… How old are you again?"

"18!"

"HUH? You're 16!" Roll frowned.

"… Are you really her or…?" Yaito got suspicious.

"Of course I am!"

"… Roll. IR vision."

"… She's human." Roll replied.

"… A human fake? Oi. Don't tell me you're…"

"Wait a minute! There's a weird radio wave being transmitted from close by and it seems to be synching with her brain at intervals: someone's manipulating her!" Roll realized.

"Huh? What? Manipulating me?" She seemed to snap out of it and looked around.

"Who goes there?" Yaito questioned loud enough to be heard.

"Up!"

"Up? KYA~H!"

SLAM!

"What happened?"

"U-u-up t-t-there!"

"Wha…? Ugrah!"

"Uwah!"

"By all the…"

"Is that…?"

The guys ran back in and looked up to see what seemed to be a human head lacking skin and with some of the muscle destroyed: the eyes were lifeless and it lacked a nose while the mouth lacked some teeth: it was pretty gross at a first sight hence why almost everyone gasped and felt that it was repulsive.

"It seems to be a small robot of some sort emitting a wave… And it's emitting encoded Wi-Fi data too!" Roll exclaimed.

"Battle Chip, Yo-yo! Gotcha, ugly!"

"Whoa! Legato?"

"Yeah. Noir – sama told me to roam close to you guys just in case something was to happen."

Legato suddenly showed up and shot the Yoyo at the thing to catch it: he quickly locked it inside of a glass case.

"Good. This cage is designed to nullify all incoming and outgoing signals so it can't be remotely self-destroyed."

"Don't tell me it's that Spiral guy." Netto grumbled.

"What a PERVERT!" Meiru fumed.

"Hmmm… Maybe there's another member we don't know of. There could be a woman agent involved as well. I'm sure that that Spiral isn't a pervert who likes manipulating women's minds. I think that the only thing he cares about is his damned piece of junk in the first place."

"Wait. What about Jennifer?" Meiru asked.

"Tetsukai? On the brig."

"Check it out."

"Alright. Do you copy, Alex? Got a little job for you: figure out if Tetsukai Jennifer is still on the brig or not."

"Roger that." Alex replied.

"Will take a lil while. I'll go deliver this at _Purgatory_ while making sure to shut it down before warping there. Hmmm… I can remove the rear of the cage to access this panel… I gotta be fast… Now!"

He quickly opened a panel set on the back of the head and found a switch along with a Compact Flash card slot which had a card on it: he shut it down and reformed the cage.

"Be right back. I ordered Burner Man to patrol the outside of the manor just in case. See ya."

Legato warped out of there while the group sighed in relief: Meiru looked annoyed (and with a reason) but exhaled and simply sat on the armchair while glancing at the window.

"Do you have strawberry milk at hand?" She asked Yaito.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?"

"Strawberry Heiress." She snickered.

"How funny." She drily replied.

"Sure thing." Roll sighed.

The guys rolled their eyes as Yaito fetched a bottle and handed it to Meiru who took a couple of sips before getting amused.

"By the way, Netto… When's it?"

"When's what?"

"You know it."

"… That joke's stupid. And offensive." Saito grumbled.

"Just trying!"

"No loopholes."

"I know."

"Let's hope you do."

"Now, now! Here's a joke! "I'm named werewolf 'cause I'm a mix of man and wolf. How 'bout ya?"… "Ya won't believe it."… "Try it, man!"… "… I'm an ant bear."… "No way, man!"…"

"Hah, hah, hah! When you put it that way then it truly becomes unbelievable!"

"I'm back. Tetsukai is in the brig and it's the real deal." Legato reappeared there to report.

"Then there must be some other woman we don't know about and who found it funny to manipulate me to start paranoia. Talk about a smug woman!" Meiru fumed and stomped the ground with the right foot.

"Legato? I found something…" Zero radioed.

"What is it?"

"That there was a woman trainee that was under Splinter's instruction at the same time as Spiral. Codename was Seed."

"Splinter, Spiral and Seed. What a trio!" Yaito muttered.

"I just found because I was incredibly lucky on finding a scan of that list in a forgotten Seraph server in Vladivostok. It establishes Spiral's age at 41 and that woman's age at 40."

"Older than Jennifer: could be my mom, even." Meiru muttered without too much surprise.

"I see. Excellent discovery, Zero. Continue looking into that: I retrieved a device that seems to have been built by that woman. I was right: Spiral works as a smokescreen to hide others… Who else could be hiding behind the guy's smokescreen?"

"I'll check that list again and try to figure out what became of the other trainees of that time. Of the year 1986, that is. I'll need a while: it's pretty old data so maybe it's not digitalized."

"A new enemy… As if we didn't have enough of them. This town seems to be a magnet for all of them in the first place. Starting with that Wily old man and his petty Dream Virus." Netto sighed.

"Heck. Things have made a turn for the worse all of a sudden. And you're right. Remember how Gospel followed not too long after that. And what they did."

"You needn't tell me, guys. Shit. Where are they hiding at?" Legato growled aloud.

"In Andorra?" Meiru joked.

"Could be. For all we know." Legato shrugged.

"Huh… What was the name…? Rodon!" Dekao grinned.

"You mean "London"." Hikawa corrected with a sigh.

"It's pointless to speculate. We don't have any leads as of now. Let's hope we can find something soon. Wait there, you lowlifes! Grrrr!"


	14. Chapter 14: Backstage deals

**Chapter 14: Backstage deals**

12:47 AM (Stockholm Time), Saturday October the 22nd…

"… Hey there. Seed."

"Spiral? Come to laugh at me at last?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"What. So you didn't know? Again with the toy?"

"It's no toy. It's my supreme masterpiece!"

"Like a Picasso?"

"HMPF!"

"Heh! I know your weakness. Someone needs to cool you off: Master Splinter always said that."

"I never question His teachings. But don't try to turn them into your blades to stab at me. So? What happened?"

"A lil experiment with a machine… The machine got caught. But since it used a lot of proxies and masks… They won't find me. Proof is that it's been over 24 hours and nothing's happened."

"Hum. Good point."

Spiral walked into a small rather unlit room that only had a desk with a PC screen atop it along with a keyboard and a mouse: someone could be seen sitting in a wheeled chair in front of the computer: they turned around.

The occupant of the room, Seed, was a woman who wore a red cap with the Cyrillic letters for "USSR" colored golden and set on its front.

She also wore a green uniform with jeans and a black boots.

Her eyes were covered by the same type of eye-mask Spiral wore and the shadow projected by the cap hid most of her face yet her eyes irises were blue: she felt icy.

She and Spiral began to chat and she felt amused to provoke him.

"So? What was it, Seed?"

"A device that could emit a specific radio wave that would sync with someone's brain frequency and thus enable for live brainwashing: I was trying to use it to foment paranoia and break up the union but I got found out. Golden Star now has it."

"Golden Star? So you tried to do it on someone related to them?"

"Yeah. That lil girl, the one that one of your Greeks impersonated a while ago… She struck as interesting and I decided to try it out taking profit of her fits of arrogance and pride."

"I see."

"Want to see something interesting?"

"What is it?"

As a response, she moved the mouse to get out of the screensaver (a Russian word spinning upon itself against a prairie background) and the screen now showed footage from no less than 24 cameras at the same time in different places: Spiral gasped and walked closer.

"You're monitoring 24 places at the same time and live?"

"Correct. This way I can figure out how much they know about us or if they've found something. Of course: I can't spy on Golden Star but at least I managed to set some wiretaps in some spots of the Shunoros base. That's handled by another app which runs as a background process: it's interesting to see their interactions and all. I set them up myself there and there. I also can listen into that Dr. Cossack's place as well."

"Dr. Cossack?"

"Used to be a genius of computers over 20 years ago but quit and recycled himself as a Math teacher. Teaches at Moscow College. I had an agent break into his college office but there was nothing interesting: should've expected it, though…" She explained.

"And what makes that man so interesting?" Spiral questioned.

"He created Forte."

"Forte? Ah yes. That rampaging kid."

"Used to be a rampaging kid but Golden Star managed to kick some sense back into him. Now he stays there with that Serenade guy. Slur of Golden Star also shows up from time to time. I'm hoping that one day they'll make a slip about XY's location because it's hinted that he dropped by there once."

"XY… That would please Lord Void. Lately His Grace is in a foul mood because he lacks enough data on that man to make a proper threat assessment." Spiral muttered.

"I thought His Grace was busy with His research 100% of the time."

"I thought so but His Grace told me yesterday that it's over 95% completed by now. He wants me to deploy Infinitus soon and this time make a public demonstration in Bangkok."

"Why Bangkok?"

"Some data hints at XY living there or close by. His Grace hopes to draw the man out and force him to show what he can actually do. His Grace believes he's not going to use those 7 idiots because our man's fed up with their idiocies." Spiral explained.

"Hum. I see. I could try ringing a couple agents on Bangkok so that they can select a fitting target…"

"The target's already been decided, His Grace said, but I don't know the where. Or when I am supposed to strike. His Grace is being careful, as usual. His Grace is the type that would ruin a plan by overthinking it."

"Indeed… Extremely careful… To great extents. Despite us 2 being His Grace's trusted agents… We've NEVER met His Grace in the flesh and we don't know WHERE His Grace is at. All of His Grace's orders come through secure channels… Be it encoded digital means or subtle physical systems… Like Zapp's micro-point…" Seed argued.

"I know. Hiding a microfilm in a picture: like in a crown's dot."

"And, also… Using several kinds of cyphers, the Seraphs' favorite one included…"

"Yeah. That method: classical… By the way… Why was Master Splinter caught so easily?"

"Oh, that. Turns out that one of the Seraphs' big bosses wanted him to interrogate a civilian who might have information about Golden Star and thus be able to brag in front of Kuroban… Golden Star told the Net Police Cyber CID about him after having been looking for suspicious profiles entering the country… And they caught him with the guard lowered and he didn't have a gun at hand either because he was to fetch it at the spot where he was supposed to interrogate the civilian. As a result that cypher system got found out." Seed fumed.

"Hmpf. Leave it to some idiotic politician to screw it up. Those rascals were but second-class politicians to begin with. They never appreciated our work and sacrifice. They just want to fill their pockets with pointless money to waste it like damned capitalists on vain stuff!" Spiral grumbled.

"I'll agree with you on that. Oh? Wait a minute… See, there! Camera 16: see that guy?"

"Yeah."

"That's gotta be our man!"

"XY? Hum."

"Looks similar to that Slur woman… Too similar to be a coincidence: don't you think so?"

"Got a point…"

Seed called for Spiral to focus on one of the live feeds showing the outside of Dr. Cossack's firewall: XY was walking towards it and he was speaking with someone.

"Hey… No audio?" Spiral asked, surprised.

"Odd. I'm sure it's on. Let me check…"

Seed adjusted the audio levels but only noise rang out through the PC's speakers in bursts of static: she cursed in Russian under her breath and quickly shut them down: she tried again but the result was the same so she began to look back at the data.

"That XY rascal's emitting a ring of "noise" around him: the camera is outside that range but the microphones aren't. So that's how he moves around: by emitting noise and disturbing all surveillance around him: maybe he uses it to interfere with perceptions too. That would explain why so few people have actually seen the man." She explained as she looked at the audio input graphs.

XY turned around to leave (he hadn't even entered the computer) and stopped: he glanced around and his glare focused on the camera: both felt a shiver go down their spines from the cold and hostile glare: Seed regained her cold blood and brought up a command input window: she wrote "BOOM" on it: there was a bang and the camera stopped working.

"I blew it up. I'm going to erase all traces of the routers and pings it had established. By the time they begin to analyze the remains the trail will be gone." She quickly began to type into several screens.

"Alright. You MUST be careful, Seed. Now they'll be on the lookout for those: maybe you should relocate them."

"Sure. I'll switch their positions and their data routes: guess it'll take about 3 to 4 hours but… Oh well."

"I should be going back to work: I don't know when Lord Void will order me to perform the attack so I need to have Infinitus ready and working by then: I won't disappoint His Grace. Remember what I t told you, Seed."

"And you remember that you're not invincible and your toy isn't a masterpiece either. Master Splinter would say so." Seed countered.

Seed began to type into the opened windows and redo their parameters while humming something in Russian.

"I'm the Big Sister instead of Orwell's Big Brother! HMPF! This is the power of Shadow Nova: there's no place to hide!"

08:48 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hey. Oriol. It's morning, man. Let's shake it up with a shakin' cocktail, how about it?"

"Hum… Netto – kun… That's a lame joke…"

"Heh, heh. Tempting me?"

"No…"

"Had more than enough yesterday, eh?"

"Yeah… So gimme a break, will you…?"

"Summon Break Man."

"How funny…"

"Maybe you need something to fully wake up?"

"Oh come on… I'm on it… Give me a minute…"

"Reversal of roles?"

"Hah, hah…"

Netto was talking with a guy sharing a king-sized bed with him inside of _Noir_'s room in _Purgatory_.

The guy, lying at his left, was about his age and height.

He had blonde hair and blue eye irises: his face looked a lot like that of Kage but was slightly different at the same time.

He was mumbling as he began to wake up as he'd been lying on his left side and looking towards the west wall: he only had a couple of black briefs on while Netto sported blue boxers.

"A joke!"

"What joke…?"

"… "Hey! What time is it?"… "12 PM!"… "It's late!"… "Should've asked me earlier!"…" Netto quoted like laughing.

"Yeah… Sure… Hum… Need a shower… Else I feel like I'll remain glued to the sheets the whole day…" He lazily sat up on the bed and placed his feet on the ground.

"Oho?"

"Ah no! Netto – kun: I said enough! Save it for later: will you do me that favor?" He grumbled.

"Alright, Kurishiri!"

"Ku-Kurishiri? That a joke? My name's Kuroshiro and you know it! Sheesh: you're such a prankster…!" Kuroshiro groaned.

"Blame the PLANKSTER!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know that joke already. Sod off."

"Soda on!"

"Huff."

Kuroshiro walked towards the cupboard and picked some clothes while checking a basket having clothes to be washed.

"Should drop by the laundry today… Else I'm going to run out of boxers and socks… And I should place some shirts too…" He muttered as he checked it out.

"One of _Purgatory_'s enigmas: it doesn't have a laundry! All members must go wash the clothes at the nearest city laundry!" Netto grinned.

"We didn't think it'd be that much of a fuss. And nobody's complained in all that time. Especially since some of the members come and go."

"Another enigma: how does it get the food?"

"Sheesh. That ain't an enigma. We simply have it delivered to a warehouse that's operated by a dummy company and then Dark Man and Burner Man load it into two boats to then bring it here… Sometimes one of the other guys helps out too…"

"Yet another: how do the toilets work like?"

"How? Just like in any ship… No mystery there. And we've got a small system that recycles sweat and humidity into showering water or water for the sinks… Just like the ISS…" He dully replied.

"As expected of my husband."

"W-what? Oh come on. That joke's old. We're lovers and that's it."

"Yeah. Else I would be mad!"

"Why would you?"

"Because Oscar drops by from time to time and you have sex when either of you feels bored." Netto grinned.

"I know. You've never complained." Kuroshiro argued back.

"I don't care, anyway."

"I'm going in and I'm going to lock from the inside so that you can't pull a joke on me. You should be getting dressed too. I think Saito and Legato are already up and running."

"OK, VP – sama~… _Marchando_!"

Kuroshiro rolled his eyes as he picked a towel and a couple of clean white boxers and opened the left door: he entered a connecting corridor that had two doors facing each other on each wall: the southern one was labelled "TOILETS" and the northern one "SHOWERS &amp; ONSEN": he opened the north one: it was already hot and someone was using it.

"Oh. Morning, Saito."

"Hey. Oriol. Netto – kun didn't try to keep you glued to the bed?"

"Sure did."

"Thought as much. And I thought that you lacked enough sleeping time as of late too."

Saito was showering himself: Kuroshiro locked the door from the inside and took off his briefs which he left atop a stool in the SE corner: he opened a shower (there were 4) and began to wash up.

"Yeah… Can't avoid it… This affair is so murky and dangerous to begin with that I feel like sleeping is a sin." He admitted with a sigh.

"Don't push it or you'll get ill with the usual autumn colds and all: they've begun to spread already."

"Already? Thought it would by mid-November like other years. It'd seem someone's begun to accidentally spread it." Kuroshiro muttered.

"Legato was in the mood to tease me a lot. Guess he lacks someone to play with as of late. Since Alex isn't the type…"

"I know. Beta X isn't the type either. And even less Tom. It's not like he's against _yaoi_: he's civilized enough to respect it. It's just that his bad mood would spoil the fun the whole time. Speaking of moods and all… How's Raito – kun like?"

"Oh. He's fine. Today's he going to the theater with Leon – kun to watch a movie. He's getting stronger with every passing day."

"That's nice to know."

"Yeah. But I can't avoid feeling the guilt nevertheless." Saito sighed and looked sad.

"Guilt? What guilt, Saito? You didn't know he existed to begin with: how could you know about it? What could've you done? And you know that that aunt of yours did that in a legal club so there was no hard evidence of what she was up to." Kuroshiro reminded him.

"You're right. It's just that… Oh well. Forget it. Talking about it will make me feel ill-humored."

"Maybe you could go watch some old _anime_ clips?"

"Guess that."

"Or movie songs… I remember the ending songs of the first 5 Pokémon movies to be very good… Especially Movie 5 with the "You're not alone"… That melody still amazes me how it fits with the scenery…" Kuroshiro suggested as if he'd had an idea.

"Oh yeah. How was it like…? I remember… _Like the sea needs the wind, or the morning needs the sun, there is surely someone nearby who needs you… Like a forest needs water, or light is needed at night, someone is praying that your life will not be destroyed... No matter how long the journey, you will someday reach the end… But if you stay still, without setting off, your dreams will fade away…_ What was the rest?" Saito began to sing yet he stopped, frowning.

"I know. _Don't be afraid, don't lose heart: you are not alone. The star we chased together once is still shining. Even if we are sucked into a future where hatred flourishes, you must never lose your trusting, forgiving heart. Just like the sea needs wind, or morning needs the sun, there is someone nearby who needs you…_"

"And I think the rest was something like this… _No matter how long the slope, you will someday reach the top. But if you stay still, without setting off, your dreams will fade away. Don't be afraid, don't lose heart: you are not alone. The rainbow we followed together once is still shining. Even if we get lost in a world that cannot bear its conflicts, you must never forget your loving, sharing heart._.. Wow. I dunno why but it seems to fit with the atmosphere. Ops. I think we're taking too much time and we should allow Netto – kun to have his shower. Let's go."

Both turned off the showers and dried: Kuroshiro put on the clean boxers and Saito put on lush green boxers: they exited the shower room and headed in opposite directions.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Netto – kun. I was chatting with Saito."

"OK! Gonna have my shower too. And another day we should have a dip into the _onsen_… Of love and madness."

"Oh come on. That was because I mixed the wrong vapors. And I know I once played a silly game with Hikawa – kun there but I won't do it again… It was a silly thing." He rolled his eyes.

"Heh, heh. Onsen Man is busy! UBYS!"

"Netto – kun and his crazy humor. He never changes!"

12:42 PM (Latvia Time)…

"… Ernst? It's me. Freddy didn't up to his ancestor's title of Frederick the Grand."

"OK. Climb up, Alec."

"Sure."

"Been a while."

"Yeah. About… 3 weeks? I think."

"Yeah. Been a bit busy there and there…"

A teen guy approached a tree branch close to a dusty living room in a house somewhere: the branch was inches away from the window and he whispered to Ernst, who was hiding in the foliage.

The guy, Alec, was around his age: he had brown combed hair and blue eye irises.

He wore a brownish coat, jeans, black wool socks and white sneakers.

"So? It'd seem our former invaders are involved. According to rumors spreading through the Internet."

"Yeah. Two former KGB trainees… Both appeal as dangerous but we dunno where they're at."

Alec climbed up some branches and met up with Ernst, sitting in a thick, big one: he sat to his right and they began to chat.

"Do they really think that just the 3 of them can rule the world?" He suddenly asked Ernst.

"Rule the world?"

"A manifesto signed by "Void" has been spreading like wildfire across Eastern Europe as of late, but only Eastern Europe. Sharo and the northern countries of Finland and all excluded." Alec explained, surprised.

"How odd. Why bother?" Ernst wondered.

"Maybe they want to make use of our behavior of always discussing rumors or being reluctant to talk about these topics…"

"Hmmm… Could be. But it seems too _clichéd_. Reeks of red herring to begin with. I'll report it nevertheless."

"Alright."

"This is End Angel."

"This is Shunoros."

"They rumor in right-winged lands of old chunk of land."

"What rumor?"

"They rule world."

"Who signs?"

"The head."

"Hmmm…"

"Could be green herb."

"Seems like it. We'll investigate. Over."

"Over and out."

"… Why did you bother to speak like that?" Alec was surprised.

"Just in case: my PET uses satellite downlink and uplink to transmit overseas but since the mobile networks around here aren't very secure then…" Ernst replied.

"But… Even if one were to hack the mobile networks… It's easier to figure out the origin of a transmission than cracking the protection that the voice has, no?" Alec argued back.

"True. But it's better to be prudent just in case. The government may be randomly peeking into calls for all we know."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

"So I make it sound like it's a silly exchange, a joke. To throw off anyone who might be eavesdropping into that."

"I see."

"When did that begin, anyway?"

"About a couple days ago…" Alec replied.

"Hum. Maybe it's a strategy by that Seed woman…"

"Could be anything at this stage, right?"

"Yeah. Do you know the exact contents of the manifesto?"

"Yeah. "Me. Void. Rule. World."… That's it."

"Even a kid could write that. How do we know it's from them?"

"Rumor has it that a card having that written was found in the site of that slaughter in Sharo…" Alec replied.

"I see."

"But then again it could be someone's fabrication."

"Yeah. Hard to say where the border between lie and reality lies: especially in the network. Info mixes up, people start copying others and trying to sell their own conspiracy theory and all. Some who claim that the "official version" crumbles upon a closer inspection, some who claim being something they aren't… And so on." He sighed.

"You don't have anything to vent off this bad mood?"

"Some jokes of the blog… I'll try… Huh… The medic to a patient. "If you want to heal then you must have 15 drops of this medicine each morning."… "I can't, Doctor. I can't count beyond 10!"… Excuses."

"Try something else."

"Fine. Eh… "How do you feel?"… "That's what I pay you for, Doctor. So that you tell me."… Well… Guess that. But the medic can't figure out what's wrong with you if you don't tell him."

"Yeah. Of course."

"… The medic to the new rich… "We'll use local anesthesia for your wife's surgery."… "No, doctor, I can't afford it: use imported anesthesia!"… The stupid idiot who doesn't realize the meaning of "local anesthesia" and think it's a product of the country. Typical of a new rich: wants to brag he can afford expensive and exotic stuff. Just to show off in front of the others…" He fumed next.

"Well…"

"… A man rides a train with a lit cigar, sits down and the employee calls for his attention. "Sir. Smoking is forbidden."… "I know."… "You've got a cigar on your hand."… "Yes! I also have shoes on my feet and I'm not walking!"… So he's trying to pull a loophole: I've got a cigar but I'm not actually smoking."

"Thinks he's VERY clever."

"Sure… A lady to the train employee. "Will I be able to get down at the next station?"… The employee thinks about it… "Try it but be careful because the train doesn't stop at this next station."…It's an express train."

"Jokes over the phone… "Could I talk to Ms. Queen?"… "Maybe, but you'd have to ring the Royal Palace!"… I see."

"Simple."

"… "Hello? Am I talking to Mr. Lion?"… "Excuse me?"… "Mr. Lion?"… "No, here's Mr. Wolf."… "Ah! Sorry. Wrong… cage."… Hah, hah. Wrong cage instead of number…" Ernst seemed to find it slightly amusing.

"… "Is this the Secret Service?"… "I'm sorry: I can't answer to that."… Of course he can't…" Alec read over Ernst's shoulder.

"A mad guy in a crazy house's acting the bike. The director complains. "This can't keep up: we must move this patient elsewhere!"… A medic adds his opinion. "I don't think the noise's that loud."… "What's annoying is the SMOKE!"… What? So he generates smoke wherever he goes to? Odd crazy guy. Managed to shake off some bad mood. Let's go to the lake."

"Alright."

Both climbed down and headed down a ground path until they reached a small lake that had a wooden pier on the south end: it was foggy and there didn't seem to be anyone there.

"Since winter will soon come…" Alec told Ernst.

"I know. By the way… Did anyone drop by to ask about me?" Ernst asked.

"Oh yeah. A woman."

"Woman?"

"Yeah. Smug type, new rich air… She said she wanted to offer you a role in her film titled "Sweet, Sweet Revenge"… I said you were in Panama and she's never dropped by again. Didn't even say who she was."

"HMPF! "Sweet, Sweet Revenge"? Sounds like an acid comedy. As if my fulfilled revenge was sweet. Some smug woman alright: thinking she can make fun of others' sufferings…!" He got annoyed.

"Sorry."

"… No. It's my fault. I said I wanted to discharge and I shouldn't have asked that. Then again I was expecting the typical idiot but…"

"No. That was about a couple weeks ago. Odd part is… I didn't find that name anywhere in the network…" He trailed off and frowned.

"Maybe she actually was a _dominatrix_! Go to Hell, you Satan incarnation."

"The Moscow Duck fought the St. Petersburg Duck in a Ducky Duel and won by Ducking under the wings! The loser said: "I'm Ducked for Ducks!"…"

"Huh…? D-ducking under the wings? Ducky Duel? W-what's that?"

"A pal made it up: and I told you a similar joke some time before, no?"

"Could patent that for some web game… Wait until those 3 get a hold of it… They're so gonna spread it like wildfire… Heh… Hah, hah, hah! It's so funny, man! I missed a real crazy joke for once in a while!"

17:17 PM (Bangkok Time)…

"… Why. Burai. You are quite early. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 o'clock."

"I know, XY. It's just that I wanted to talk with you about something I've been wondering about."

"Is that so? Wait a minute. I will ask for permission."

"Alright."

"Master Helios? Burai has come and would like to discuss something with me: do you approve of it?"

"Of course."

"Thank you very much."

Burai came into the "city" where XY lived at, surprising him by coming so early before the meeting: XY contacted Helios for permission and he gave it: both sat down on the stone armchairs.

"How many of you did come to Earth back then?"

"Hum. If I recall correctly… About 50 of us. Another 25 remained behind in Kyutora."

"Only?"

"Yes. Only. We were the only ones who realized that conflict would only breed further conflict. Trying to stop Duo by force would bring tragic consequences: we were sure of it." XY sighed.

"Can you remember ALL you did in these 5 and something millennia?"

"Of course no. My data banks have a limit. Of about 3 centuries of everyday records. If we reached it then we spent some days going over them and selecting what memories of experiments and researches could be useful in the present and the future and we would keep them: the rest would be compressed and stored in our the servers in a dedicated system partition." XY explained.

"3 centuries of everyday data…!" Burai muttered.

"Yes. I have had to do that several times already."

"And have you always stayed here ever since you returned from your century-long exile once Helios transformed himself into a cybernetic life-form?" Burai asked.

"At intervals. Master Helios wanted to continue his researches but he also wanted to keep an eye on the evolution of humans. So we would go out and pretend to be travelers or whatever role suited the age and region and society… It was easy to pretend we were either master and apprentice or father and son. I could easily re-shape my face to achieve the highest possible degree of resemblance to Master Helios."

"So you've lived important historical events?"

"Hmmm… I cannot be exacts for a long stretch of it but regarding the last 3 centuries… We always avoided being dragged into wars or armed conflicts because we did not want to extinguish the lives of those we had chosen as our heirs. But we did watch from the sidelines taking no sides and doing nothing. Because it was humans' wars, humans' problems, and it was not our place to interfere with them. Yes. You could argue that we could have tried to help those that were being systematically exterminated but… We could not. Humans had to solve their own problems. Call it cold, distant, impersonal. I do not mind. It would have been arrogant from our part to think we, outsiders, could change humanity." XY sighed.

"… I see." Burai sighed as well.

"The history of nations and of people is written in the blood that is shed on battles: and most of the times those wars and battles were just the result of a few unbalanced humans who, unfortunately, had the means to order blood to be shed to please their unbalanced minds. But sometimes other parties' arrogance and ego planted the seeds of conflict."

"Yeah. WWII began because the end of WWI planted seeds of remorse and grudge and frustration that would then bloom like that."

"Yes. But as I was saying before… We could only look on: and can only do so…"

"But why have you become active as of late?"

"Because of the fast development of the Network…"

"Ah. I see. You want to closely keep an eye on that because it might lead to something like Duo?"

"Yes. Duo was the result of newfound arrogance, greed and sloth. And your tribe, Burai, did build something that came close to being a new Duo…"

"Ra Mu, you mean? But it had no intelligence per se."

"I know. But it and the floating continent were designed as tools to ensure complete control of the lands surrounding those of your tribe. They were meant to be able to lay waste to them, to steal their resources, to punish their peoples. The only thing that prevented that was the civil war that ensued and ended with the sealing of it."

"Yeah. Some of my ancestors feared that having acquired too much power and building an artificial God was calling for the wrath of the real Gods so they fought the top brass, the Sages' Council, and their loyal soldiers to seal it and prevent the annihilation of the whole tribe via divine punishment. Chronicles say the recent years had been bad in terms of weather and production and most people began to see it as a long-term punishment that would eventually lead to our destruction. But I'm sure that the real reason was because of the brutal amounts of EM waves and other waves the floating continent emitted: they messed up with the area's own magnetic field and caused for clouds' particles to start repelling each other and they hardly attracted each other. The result? Little to no rain even in the monsoon season. Seeing that then it's no wonder that the citizens were blaming that heap of rock and metal." Burai detailed.

"Indeed. Those were the conclusions we drew, I think. I keep a small "digest" file about the Mu Continent in ancient times." XY nodded.

"Aha. By the way… Those who approached Mu and the On'Setsu with the basis for their technology were members of your species yet… Was that after you'd exiled to Earth or before?"

"I think before. I think there was a scout party sent: seeing how those two civilizations had begun to question the existence of Gods and were trying to understand natural phenomena through reason… They saw potential on them and handed them the information. I am sure I was still on the colony by then. Maybe I was still serving Master Helios' father."

"If one could access to your memories…"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Could you make the most detailed chronicle of ancient times until our days? Find details that we do not know?"

"Surely. I hope you are not planning on doing that, though."

"Of course not. Just wondering. Another thing… Why did you build the pyramid in the Reverse Internet and left that "Saito Style" program there?"

"It was a means to test the growth of Net Navis. Only one who could have a strong bond with its Operator could realize where their true potential lied at. Although we underestimated the effects of our own program, seeing what happened later. And sadly enough… It is our fault that that began…"

"That that began?"

"We talked about…"

"… I see. The fools who made that report stolen by Shadow Nova. Those dogs." Burai scowled.

"Indeed."

"But, on the other hand, it was thanks to you guys that he had enough power to stand up to Gospel and Forte." Burai tried to highlight the positive part of it.

"Yes. However, it was surprising… The "Dark Power" proved to be resistant to Saito Style… And it allowed for Navis to materialize in the real world too… We have now realized that they used some of the power of the "Darkloid word" or "Dark Cyber World" we had created as an experiment on what could such a Cyber World generate given enough raw material and conditions… The results were Shade Man and Laser Man. And Laser Man then used its power to create Rock Man Dark Soul."

"I seem to remember that the Cybeasts were made by you as well."

"Yes. It was another trial of strength. Yet again we overdid them and they gained that horrific ability of being able to digitalize the whole world and assimilate it into its body… We managed to escape by fleeing into a satellite's Cyber World. At that point we thought it exceeded the capabilities of any Net Navi and we were about to take responsibility."

"How?"

"Simple. Each of them had had an "apoptosis" protocol built into them in case they went beyond control. They would break down from the inside at a fast speed. Even while fused that "apoptosis" protocol remained because it was a key component. We were about to infiltrate into the core and trigger it when that explosion happened and, before we knew it, Rock Man collided with us. He was horribly damaged and most of his body was broken: he was already unconscious as well… We warped him with us to shield him from the remaining explosion… We witnessed the world returning to normal too… So we hurried back here and began to restore him… A quick scan of his memories showed us what had happened in that fierce battle… We were impressed so we decided to keep him under our custody for some time… Master Helios saw on him the child he had never had and so… We kept him here, in a child's room, surrounded by pure things a child would like…"

"But you eventually realized that you couldn't do that forever."

"Yes. Master Helios began to notice how, almost a year after the battle, he began to feel lonely and sad. Nothing we provided him with would make him change that mood. And so he realized."

"Hum…"

"That he missed his kind: he could not bear the thought of being away from them forever. So Master Helios released him after erasing his memories of his stay here for his safety. And that was why he reappeared in such a "mysterious" manner when the opening of the New Internet City." XY finished his tale.

"Aha. And what did you think of his battle with Blues?" Burai asked with some interest.

"Impressive. I must admit it. To think it would become so fierce… It is no wonder they decided to leave that world soon after: they had grown bored of it and were no longer needed. There was Forte but, fortunately enough, between Golden Star and Serenade… They managed to purge him from the evil possessing him…"

"Speaking of which: Slur and Kuroban should be about to arrive." Burai seemed to recall.

"True. Let us get ready to discuss the next steps to be undertaken." XY nodded in agreement.

"I know. I've got the feeling this is the calm before the storm."

"Yes. I feel the same too. The storm is imminent. And no walls will be able to keep it at bay… By the stars! We must be ready for anything…!" XY muttered.

"Indeed we must." Helios stepped in.

"Master."

"And maybe you will need to show them a lesson."

"Understood. I shall do so if the need for that arises."

"Good. Show them how foolish and weak they really are."

"With pleasure, Master."

"Hmpf. Those bastards got it coming, anyway. Have at you, you lot!"


	15. Chapter 15: Unleashed thunderclap

**Chapter 15: Unleashed thunderclap**

05:58 AM (Bangkok Time), Sunday October the 23rd…

"… This is Central. How's it over there, Hall?"

"This is Hall. The fox ate its tail. Over."

"Acknowledged."

"… Shit. This job's so stupid. Who'd try to rob a bank that was designed to be robbery-proof? Not even dynamite could blow up the armored room's door. And the employees don't know the codes. Only the General Director who's never in the building."

"Muttering alone again, Hall?"

"That you, Rear? Who wouldn't?"

"Hey. At least pay's good. And you only need talk back to the radio."

"I know. And I'm glad of it: with the crisis and all…"

"This is Bangkok Radio: 6 AM news."

"6 AM? Good. Another hour and my shift will end. I can't wait to get back to my place and have a proper rest."

"Hmpf… Witness… Today the Unleashed Thunderclap will raze all to the ground."

"HUH?"

"Wha?"

KABOOM!

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"What the…?"

A security guard was stationed in a desk set in a bank's hall and taking with the security central as well as another colleague elsewhere through the radio: a voice rang out.

It was followed by a humming sound before a ping rang out followed by an explosion on the front door: the "Infinitus" robot ran in and it now had a rail-gun built in the face: the shoulders had a couple of red spheroids built there as well and a reddish transparent bubble surrounded the body.

"Shadow Nova!"

"What!"

"So! Come out! XY! I'm waiting for you! In the meanwhile… I'm going to turn this place into ruin!"

"Someone ring up the Army!" The guard ran off.

"That for real? Holy shit!" The other guard gasped over the radio.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Run, run! Destroy! Missiles!"

"Infinitus" shot some missiles that landed on random spots around the area, causing damage and destruction: it dashed and jumped over the reception desk to then open a hatch on the rear and shoot some grenades into the air which landed in front of it and destroyed the glass wall dividing the area: it ran into the office room and began to shoot and destroy at wild before it tore apart a door that was the entrance to the basement.

"Heh, heh, heh…"

"Halt."

"Huh? So! You came! XY! To be CRUSHED!"

"Depends."

"What was that?"

XY appeared behind "Infinitus" while crossing his arms and looking unimpressed: the robot jumped and turned around while Spiral chuckled aloud.

"All weapons: lock on! DIE~!"

"I would rather… object."

He suddenly used an Area Steal and appeared behind it as all of the weapons hit the spot he'd been at a moment ago: he calmly examined the shields and extended his hands forward: his hands emitted some golden energy pulsations and they began to show up on different spots of the shields' surface: the whole of it began to frizzle and turn unstable as the robot whipped around again.

"Impossible! This shield is EM proof! I tested it myself!" Spiral grumbled.

"This is not an EM pulsation. It is something far more… subtle."

"What the fuck?"

"A savage like you who only thinks of stealing lives would never understand what it is." He dully taunted.

"SAVAGE? ME? I'm a RUSSIAN!"

"And what if? A savage is a savage."

"Damn you~… This time Area Steal won't save you! Tracker missiles: fire at will!"

"Mere childish toys."

"What!"

"Your shield maybe immune to EM but these toys are not. Hah!"

"Shit!"

XY emitted some EM pulses that overloaded the missiles and made them detonate: Spiral grumbled and loaded up the rail gun: XY merely looked on, uninterested, as the blast of electricity jumped at him: he merely emitted the golden pulsations and the streaks became thinner and spread all over the place with some hitting him but he was unfazed.

"Fuck and fuck!"

"If you thought I was easy prey then you made a great mistake. And, besides… Slur would have ended this fight quite a while ago. I am merely observing what you can actually do."

"You mean that that woman's stronger than you?"

"Yes. Very strong. I am not a natural fighter. What I did is but use the head and apply some science. Now… If that is all you can do then how about you go back? I have far more productive matters to take care of and I do not have time to waste on a savage." He dully replied.

"D-devil! Lord Void, this is BAD!" He grumbled aloud.

"Maybe that man will soon realize he picked the worst possible opponents ever and he should have remained quiet and not trying to disrupt our everyday routines."

"I'm not done yet! I can still tear you apart!"

Spiral turned on the chainsaw and dashed for XY but he merely hovered upwards and let the robot fall down the stairs into the basement and he looked down from atop the flight of stairs: the robot had ended up with the legs on the air and was struggling to try to get back to a working position: Spiral shot the boosters and using the little instant in which it was airborne he managed to spin it and make it land normally: he howled and shot the spinning saws but XY merely made electricity from the walls' lights jump at the saws to intercept them and have them fall into the ground: more electricity began to jump off and hit the robot's weapons thus overloading them and destroying them one by one until none remained operational.

"So?"

"Not yet! I can still use its mass to turn you into LIQUID!" Spiral tried to sound confident.

"Savages will be savages indeed."

"I AIN'T A SAVAGE, BY THE MOTHERLAND!"

"You are. And you will always be. History will judge. Not some fools."

"Shut that damned trap!"

"And what if I do not? You deluded savage."

"Deluded? Hah! I knew from the start I was to be a distraction and means to stall for time: that's not being deluded! Take that!"

"I did not mean that. I meant that you obsess yourself over your petty machine and did not try to think what possible weaknesses it could have in the first place. You surely were thinking it was invincible. It is not and will never be. Because you are not perfect. And nothing is perfect. All is bound to mistake. Especially when arrogance is in play." XY calmly countered.

"I didn't come here to be LECTURED!"

"I did not come here to waste my precious time, either." XY replied.

"SHUT UP! DIE!"

"Fool."

XY merely stepped to the left as the robot ran up the stairs and rushed past the offices, broke the counter and exited into the street: the hit with the counter made it lose footing and it fell head-firsts down the small flight of stairs of the entrance: it managed to get back to its feet and looked around: XY suddenly landed atop its head and touched the armor with the hands: the robot began to frizzle and work erratically before it totally stopped.

"Impossible! The whole inner circuits are fried!"

"I merely increased the output of the core." XY dully announced.

"Fuck! Huh? Oh shit!"

There were some flashes as Spiral realized that a cordon had been formed off and a crowd had gathered behind it: several of them began to take photos with the phones and some reporters did with their cameras: TV cameras were filming the scene as well.

"Fucking shit! Last thing I needed!"

"Hmpf." XY was unimpressed.

He merely dropped to the ground behind the robot and became invisible.

"SEED!" He roared.

"I heard you. I'm getting you out of there." Seed replied through the radio but was heard from the outside because the voice echoed.

There was a blinding flash and the next second the robot was gone: everyone sighed in relief while XY (still invisible) glanced there from a nearby alley.

"Hum. I hope that humiliation is enough to keep you grounded." He muttered.

_Good job, XY_. Helios told him.

_Yes, My Master. I am retreating._

_Good. You might rest._

_As you wish._

XY walked away yet the mysterious white figure had seen it all from a building's rooftop.

"This is National TV! As you can see….!"

"… sure wasn't a film!"

"It was! My film soul tells me so!"

"Where's the staff, the cameras…?"

"They use hidden cameras!"

"How original!"

A reporter began to broadcast from the scene while conversations began to form within the crowd.

"The Army's newest super-weapon!"

"Yeah. Sure. Like it'd be."

"My nation for that robot!"

"You've drunk too much beer, man! Go wash your face! Sheesh!"

09: 18 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Good morning, dad."

"Good morning, Raito. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did. Huh? What happened?"

"Oh, that? Apparently some crazy guy with some robot went wild in Bangkok a while ago."

"The world's turning odd."

"You needn't tell me. Anyway. Going to have breakfast?"

"Yes. Ah. There is the bread. Thank you very much."

"You needn't. I just went for my usual jogging."

Raito came down from his room at his house into the living room where he found his father drinking a cup of coffee and distractedly watching at the TV: Raito headed for the kitchen and prepared a sandwich as breakfast while humming a tune.

"How was it like? Yesterday."

"I had fun. Leon – senpai chose an interesting movie." He explained.

"That's nice to hear."

"Eh… Dad?"

"What?"

"… I'm sorry." He suddenly sighed.

"… Raito. You needn't apologize. The past is the past. Focus on the present. Didn't they teach you that?"

"I know they did but… It's still too recent…"

"Nobody said you could forget in just one month. It'll take time. But I'm sure you'll be capable of overcoming that."

"… Thank you."

"It's nothing. Just have the breakfast: you must be hungry, that's it."

"Yes. I think so…"

Raito brought the sandwich to the table while his father switched channels to watch a tennis match.

"Let's see… Hum, hum. Making progress, but any mistake can cost him the tournament at this stage." He muttered.

"Quarter – finals, is it?"

"Yeah. It is. And the opponent won't make it easy either."

"Obviously… By the way, dad… Is work… fine?"

"Work? Ah. My job, you mean. Well, yes. They already saw that I've got experience and the colleagues are friendly."

"I'm sorry."

"Not again… You're not to blame, Raito. Stop thinking like that. You're the victim: the victim is the victim."

"Victim? I thought I was the culprit." He muttered with some guilt on his voice.

"Culprit? You? Of what? Of being unable to tell me? Who could, in those circumstances? Raito. Regretting the past doesn't get you anywhere: it's not like you can go and change it, right?" His father tried to calm him down.

"… Yes… I know, but… I…"

"Raito. You're an honest child, which I appreciate, but you needn't be so hard on yourself. Ease it up." His father insisted.

"I'm sorry…"

"Raito… Do you want to disappoint your _senpai_?"

"Eh… No, of course not."

"Then look up and cast away that mood." His father told him.

"…How stupid of me… I was about to disappoint Leon – _senpai_ and those gentlemen…"

"You needn't call them "gentlemen": they're your cousins."

"B-but… They are older than me and so…"

"Oh well. I won't force you on that aspect."

"Thank you…"

"Finish up the breakfast and have a shower: it'll do you good. And then we'll go visit them."

"Yes, dad…"

Raito silently finished his breakfast and placed the used dish and cup in the washing machine: he then headed back upstairs into his room and stored the _futon_ on the storage space: he opened his clothes' cupboard and picked the day's clothes as he looked out from the balcony at the sunny day.

_It's still pretty sunny… But November will soon come… I don't want to catch a cold so I better pull a wool sweater on… Huh?_

He suddenly ran towards the balcony and looked out at the nearby area but saw nothing.

_How odd. I thought I saw something atop a roof… My imagination: there's no way there'd be someone standing atop a roof in the first place… Get a hold of yourself, Raito… _

He entered the bathroom and showered: he then combed his hair and washed his teeth before dressing up and coming downstairs: his father was now going over the newspapers.

"Done with the shower? Good. Let's go."

His father folded the newspapers and left them atop the table as he switched the TV to radio mode: they headed into the entrance and put on the shoes before locking the house and walking down the street towards the Hikari house.

"Good day. It's getting a bit colder, though. No wonder."

"Yes. Autumn is upon us."

"Hey! Raito! Uncle! Morning!"

"Good morning!"

"Ah! Good morning!"

"Hello."

Netto and Saito greeted them from the balcony and they replied.

"Good morning." Yuuichirou walked up to the greet them.

"You needn't bother, Yuuichirou – san." Raito's father thanked as he shook hands.

"Come in."

"Thank you."

They came in and took off the shoes to put on slippers: Raito headed for the first floor while Yuuichirou and his dad sat down on the sofa and began to chat.

"Where is Haruka – san?" Raito asked.

"Went to buy some groceries."

Raito headed up and knocked into the door: Saito opened and smiled at him so he came in.

"We were going to have a _Great Melee Smash Brothers X_ game: how about you join us?"

"D-delighted. I tried it at a friend's some time ago… Please be easy on me, gentlemen…" He timidly requested.

"Don't worry! You're gonna team up with either me or Saito – niisan against the other and the computer. We're going to do very basic stuff and we'll then move onto the real deal!"

"T-thank you very much."

"Here's your cushion."

"T-thank you."

"So! Choose your character."

"L-let's see… Eh… Someone easy… Luigi. I will pick Luigi."

"Good. Then… I'll go for Mario!"

"And I'll pick Link. Let's tell the computer to choose… Hum. It choose Wario. Stage… Hmmm… The basic stadium stage… Let's rock!" Saito decided with a grin.

"Ready? Go!" The game encouraged.

"Alright, Raito. We gave you a GC controller because I thought it would be easier for a first time. Move with the joystick, basic attack is the "A" button and special is "B"… Just try out the "A" button for now." Netto explained.

"Understood… Attack… Left… Right… Up… Down… I can jump with X and use the shield with L or R… The special attacks are different depending on the direction I move the joystick… The yellow C stick also can be used as well…" Raito began to test out the game.

"Take your time. I'm grinding with the computer in the meanwhile to freshen up my level." Saito told him.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!" Wario laughed.

"Go ride up the hills." Saito joked.

"A-alright. I think I can go for it."

"Then face this guy."

"A-alright. H-here! Jump punch!" Raito gulped.

"Ouwah!" Wario growled.

"I-it worked!" He gasped.

"Careful! The guy's going to attack!"

"S-shield!"

"Good reflexes!" Netto praised.

"B right! Cape!"

"Good! Rush in and hit the "A" button!" Saito instructed.

"Hah!"

"Ouwa~h!"

"H-he got kicked out the stage! I did it!"

"Good! Keep on trying a bit more." Netto encouraged.

"Y-yes! I'll do my best! What nerves! But… It's… fun! It's been some time since I had fun with a game… Let's go for more…!"

"Let's go for ROME!" Netto laughed at his joke.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on. Netto – kun. You've never been to Rome, anyway. So stop saying weird stuff. Will you?"

"Don't worry, Saito – niisan. If Rome won't go to Tokyo then Tokyo will go Rome."

"It's a parody of "if Ishikawa won't go to the mountain then the mountain will go to Ishikawa."…" Saito sighed.

"Did ya say somethin'? My ears are burnin'!"

"Sure, sure. You're going to lose."

"Ah no! Here I go! Full Smash 'Em All Mode!"

"Too long."

_They have an odd… relationship… from time to time._ Raito thought.

"A-alright. I will do my best too… But please don't be too hard on me!"

11:35 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So… That staircase guy was the culprit? Wan-derful – chan."

"T-that joke's lame, Ikada – san!"

"Who knows?"

"Y-you do!"

"My, my. You're blushing."

"W-well, that's… Well… Yes! Spiral was the culpit, yes!"

"Of course. So? What's the latest trend?"

"Trend?"

"Between the VP and blonde – sama~…"

"Like I'd know!"

"Teasing ya."

"Great."

Zarashe was talking with Ikada as he was sitting on a chair inside of her room: he only had his black boxers and socks on and his hands were cuffed behind the chair: he also had a black wool blindfold on.

Ikada wore her usual clothes and was standing a couple meters in front of Zarashe while grinning and teasing him.

"By the way… I suspect there's something."

"What?"

"There's a something that's something but I haven't decided what that's about yet." She seemed to be quoting someone with obvious amusement.

"Not Alfred again…" He groaned.

"Yes, my cutie."

"What next?" He sighed.

"The Rock Building flips around."

"Rock Building…? Ah. That dungeon in _Mujura's Mask_ that's sparked so many debates in fan-forums…" He recalled.

"Saria – chan dances _flamenco_."

"Oh come on."

"And Darunia – oniisama makes the ground rumble!"

"Don't all Gorons do that, anyway?"

"Guess that, Wan-der."

"Oh please." He blushed.

"Maybe you need a teaser?"

"More of them?"

"Yessir. For example… This."

She suddenly walked up to him and pressed her right hand's index finger on the origin of his nose to then slide it down the nose: she giggled and Zarashe grumbled something.

"How was it like?"

"Very subtle." He ironically replied.

"My, my."

"Is that all?"

"Of course not. I'm just heating the mood up. Before the autumn freezes it over." She giggled.

"Lovely."

"Ain't it, Number One?"

"Sheesh. That joke's old and overused." He complained.

"Maybe you need something else… like this." She giggled again.

She suddenly pinched his right nipple with the thumb and index fingers: Zarashe let out a small groan and Ikada giggled: she then pinched his left nipple next as she gripped his jaw with the left hand.

"Heh, heh, heh."

"Oh boy." Zarashe sighed.

"Tee, heh, heh. Bad boys will be bad boys. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah. You've said it how many times already?"

"Dunno. Maybe 66.6 times."

"Not Alfred again… The guy's obsession is like an illness…"

"We should send that Spiral guy to climb a 666 steps spiral staircase and see how macho he really is." She laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."

"Hop!"

"Wha!"

She suddenly slid her right hand inside of his boxers and gripped his cock which she rubbed: Zarashe groaned while Ikada giggled: she let go of it and suddenly took off her right shoe to land her foot atop it: Zarashe blushed a lot and she began to rub it along the length of his cock: Zarashe groaned and Ikada merely crossed her arms while smirking and simply doing that: she suddenly stopped and Zarashe let out a groan of disappointment: Ikada giggled and suddenly gripped his balls with the foot next: Zarashe groaned again and she hummed a tune.

"Witness my magical foot, Wan-derland – chan." She made up a lame title for that.

"P-please…! It's s-shameful…! Oh…! Too good…! Too good…!" He tried to protest but his groans of pleasure interrupted him.

"You sure are some masochist, Wan-dering."

"W-wan… dering…? Oh…! So good…!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Fine. Let's try something new."

She stopped that as well and walked to behind Zarashe: Zarashe tried to look over his right shoulder as if trying to figure out what she wanted to do but she merely folded her arms and remained a meter away.

"Denial play!" She announced.

"Oh please! You can't be serious! Pretty please!" He begged.

"Oh? The cool B-rank hunter is begging? Interesting."

"B-rank hunter? There aren't ranks! And we're not hunters!"

"It's a saying, Wa-ni."

"I'm not a crocodile." He sighed.

"Tee, heh, heh. Don't worry. I've got something as a consolation gift: maybe it'll make you see the stars?"

"Huh? What?"

She suddenly pulled down his boxers and stuffed a black silicon vibrator inside at max speed: Zarashe let out a moan and began to agitate as she pulled up the boxers again and returned to the front to rub his cock with the foot: Zarashe was now moaning and Ikada was giggling under her breath.

"N-no more… Can't hold it back…!"

"Oho. Then… Serve yourself!"

She pulled down his boxers' front just as he went off and he stained his body: he moaned out of pleasure and hung his head down: Ikada retrieved the vibrator and giggled.

"Be glad I was in the mood, cutie. Else I could've been teasing you for hours on end." She told him.

"Uh-huh…"

"Hey, Bertha – chan… Cha done?" Sandra asked over the PET.

"Almost. Another 5 minutes."

"I hope you didn't overdo it."

"Of course not: he just missed the thrill. And the hill."

"Hah, hah, hah. How original. Coming from cha." Sandra drily replied, unimpressed.

"Someone's going to live under the hill?"

"Wha? Dunno what cha mean. If it's another joke then I'm not in the mood for them. At all."

"My, my. Beta was too Gray – style?"

"Oi. That's not funny. Beta and I don't do stuff. We're mature enough to behave. You sound like you make fun of that novel's gal and I don't like that." Sandra complained.

"Well… When you put it like that…" She seemed to realize that Sandra did have a point.

"See? So will cha quit those jokes?"

"Fine, fine. I don't want an association of masochist women to come complain at me for making fun of them so I'll keep it there." She replied with a shrug.

"Fine. Call me when cha done."

"Sure. Beware of the Goth."

"Hmpf. I'm not that stupid to start a brawl and get scolded by Slur – sama: quit it with the pointless jokes. See ya later. And ya better behave for once: it'd do ya well!"

Ikada walked over to Zarashe who was starting to recover and unlocked the handcuffs while taking out the blindfold: Zarashe stretched and Ikada handed him a handkerchief: he cleansed the stains and then looked around: he spotted the vibrator.

"What. Do you want it for the shower?"

"W-well, no, I thought it was bigger than the usual one and…"

"Just keep it. I don't mind. I bought it for you, anyway."

"T-thank you." He blushed.

"Get dressed and you can leave."

"A-alright."

He picked his clothes and headed into the bathroom: he locked the door from the inside and Ikada hummed a tune as she distractedly glanced at her nails.

"Yeah. They're better without nail polish, anyway. I'm not a show-off to begin with." She muttered.

"L-later." Zarashe came out and headed for the room door.

"See ya… Wan-de-ri-ng." She slowly spelled it out in purpose.

"Oh boy…" Zarashe seemed to roll his eyes under the sunglasses.

"Tee, heh, heh. Next time I'll bring something far sneakier."

"What mess have I gotten myself into…?"

"My, my. You started it time go, didn't you? One evening you looked bored and all and I invited you over to my room… And you suddenly said "tie me and tease me"… And I did so!" She reminded him.

"I _do_ remember."

"I've always wondered what gave you the idea, though."

"Not sure. Maybe I felt like I lacked something. And I thought that usual sex wouldn't do it. Maybe someone who could teach me how to hold my urges back." He muttered as he seemingly recalled.

"Oho. I see. How interesting, Wan-de-ri-ng." She spelled it like that again.

"Please…! Spare me…!" He groaned.

"Too bad! You don't get away with it so easily! Tee, heh, heh!"

13:24 PM (Bangkok Time)…

"… Sorry for dropping by again but I felt curious."

"I mind not. It is good to have someone to talk to apart from Master Helios: today I have been authorized to "take a break" so…"

"OK. So… About your trips around the world…"

"Yes?"

"You said that you always avoided battles and watched conflicts from the side-lines… Did you ever get to intervene in politics or so?"

"No. We always avoided them and any rulers. We just wanted to interact with the people. To witness their evolution over time. To see what they thought."

Burai had come to chat with XY again and they were sitting in the same places as the previous day.

"By the way… _Why_ did you choose Earth? You surely found countless other planets before that, no?"

"Of course we did. But Earth was the only that had developed an intelligent species. And by some curious coincidence, some genes are very similar to my Masters' ones."

"How odd."

"Yes, I know. We have been unable to find the reason, though. We have studied countless samples of genomes and compared them to samples in the databases but we did not get anywhere." XY admitted while looking somewhat unsatisfied with himself.

"… Oi, oi… You're not going to tell me there was some alien civilization that found it clever to seed two planets over different spans of time… Or that they seeded your planet first and then they recycled their genetic material to use here…" Burai muttered as he realized what that could mean.

"Who knows? Not even we know the answer." XY sighed.

"Hmmm… Maybe they're like the "Firstborn" in Arthur C. Clarke's _Odyssey_ novels… A species that sought to seed the galaxy with intelligent species and which created those "Monoliths"…"

"Yes. I read them some time ago. I found the idea to be interesting."

"Really?"

"Because someone else shared the same conclusions Master Helios and I had come to…" He explained.

"Ah. I see. By the way… What's your conclusion on that piece of junk? Worthless, I take it?"

"Totally."

"Thought as much… You might polish it up but junk is junk in the end and has no worth." Burai wasn't too surprised.

"I am sure that you would have found a way around that childish shield as well."

"Of course. With my "Burai Knuckles" which can warp: and by warping them inside of the shield I could hit the generators. Piece of a cake: and then I could use this hand's solidity shifting property to grip the circuitry inside the armor and destroy it." He looked at his ghostly hand and snickered.

"That is an interesting use of particle science: generate vibrations that keep the particles away from each other and when needed join them again to regain solidity." XY observed.

"Yeah. Guess the notes and materiel your fellows handed to my ancestors came in handy. Did you invent stuff like this?"

"I am not sure. I would have to look at the archives. But maybe some department or some researcher did so. There were so many types of researches going on so…" XY admitted with a shrug.

"Speaking of archives… I guess Helios' one is bigger, right?" Burai guessed without too much surprise.

"Yes. Even if he became a Net Navi his brain would not be able to store information past a hundred years… You will argue that there humans who have more than 100 years, but most of them have decadent brains and lack a lot of memories… So he has to download almost everything on his brain every century approximately. So he has about 50 folders of memories on the databanks while I have about 19 of them. No wonder since Master Helios is about 5,100 years old. And despite my appearance I am about 100 years older than him. I served his father and then him on one of our 3 colonies."

"Aha. And did you have "hyper-space"?"

"For small to medium ships yes, we did. For heavy ships we were having trouble and research was ongoing but it all came to halt when the Duo Incident. And I think our successors will still take some time to achieve that again."

"Successors? So your species weren't wiped out?"

"Ah. Slur did not tell you?"

"What, Slur knew and she didn't tell me? Sheesh."

"I thought that, since Kuroban knew…"

"So Kuroban knows and I don't. Not fair, Slur." He grumbled.

"Well. Not too long ago we detected some odd transmissions beamed at our server from the Kyutora space-city and they seemed to be a modern version of the common idiom used in our times. And we found an exploration party of an elder and two youths. The elder had studied our language and thus he could speak directly to us. He told us what happened after our exile."

"What happened?"

"Turns out that in the rush to launch Duo and repress the colonies, the home-world fools forgot to input the colonies' location coordinates and so Duo did not know in which direction to go. Chose one at random."

"At random!"

"And fortune had it that it was the very opposite direction of the colonies so Duo never reached them. And then, by a massive use of "vacuum energy" and time-space physics… The home-world was restored to the state it was on that instant Duo shot its weapon at it."

"Impressive!" Burai was awed.

"Yet…"

"… The fools didn't get the lesson?" Burai growled.

"Indeed."

"Oh by all the…"

"They were outcast from power and sentenced to exile in a barren planet: their Navis were de-allocated and reallocated."

"But that didn't end the trouble."

"No. You may take down an evil but, with time, a new one will arise. Like how it is happening now."

"So you mean a new band of fools rose to power."

"Exactly. And they wanted to expand that destructive power with new, more lethal weapons. To subjugate other planets and extract their resources. And if there was a civilization to impose ridiculously high taxes to benefit the Commerce Guild."

"Hum. That sounds like the Trade Federation from _Star Wars_ in some aspects."

"Yes… Indeed. So the citizens began to realize that their level of civilization, their power, was too high. All of the efforts to build a society free of emotion, of sin and temptation were crumbling apart barely 3 centuries after it began. So they decided that it hand to end. They rose across the home-world against the despots in charge… They destroyed the research labs and the weapons… And they decided to abandon that civilization because it was already gone, it had already died along with the planet…"

"And then?"

"They left messages, materiel and many relics needed to one day rebuild the level of technology. The cities were abandoned, the genetic control ended and a "primal reversion" began… Culture and science were steadily forgotten or in some cases massive brainwashing to erase that began: and so the reversion progressed… And once they became "primal" then the progress began from zero… Slowly… Over all these millennia… And only recently some of the "time capsules" and "time vaults" began to unlock given how these successors began to re-achieve science and such. Space-travel has become capable again but with a lot of limitations yet it is better than what Earth has now."

"I see. And then that exploration party found the Kyutora space-city and attempted to find out what had become of you, the exiles."

"Yes. They went back after our conversation. I suppose the news will bring sadness but they will overcome it. We did warn NOT to come to Earth yet because there could be a civilization clash."

"Let's hope the new leaders are wiser than the old ones."

"So it would seem. Now it is scientists who lead the home-world and not ambitious fools. They only desire to know. That is all. To know the answers to all around them. Like any scientist."

"That sounds like a promising start."

"It is. As long as it holds up…"

"Do they retain emotions?"

"Of course. They realized that trying to erase them is what later led to those fools turning so greedy, arrogant and lazy. So what they do is always bear in mind what those emotions led to and vow to not to commit the same mistakes that were committed in the past." XY continued explaining to Burai.

"Hum. Good thinking."

"Indeed." Helios joined them.

"Master?"

"Calm down, XY. It is just that I felt like having some air. The simulation is almost complete so it matters not."

"I see."

"However… I am still convinced that they have something far better than that machine." Helios muttered.

"Sure thing. It was obvious from the start. But they're doing a damned good job of hiding the what. Guess only that rascal knows it to begin with and doesn't tell anyone else." Burai grumbled.

"I do not think that controlling electrical forces is it either. I thought that the words "unleashed thunderclap" were a hint of something but maybe it is just a vain name for that vain rail gun. It did produce a thunderclap of some sort, after all. Yet it was childish. Like all of it. I am sure that even our successors could easily deal with something so childish." XY rubbed his chin.

"Yeah. I'd stake anything on it. The guy must've felt inspired. As I said: he's been copying _Gundam_, _Metal Gear_ and maybe a PC game named _Battle Mech_. Or _Terminator_, even. Talk about a lame copycat. Can't come up with anything original."

"Focusing too much on those two fools could lead to disaster if there are other forces hidden and waiting for the time to start moving. Do not forget that, child." Helios warned.

"Good point, Helios. Guess Golden Star will have to dig deeper and wider to try to figure out if there are sleepers stationed somewhere. There gotta be, anyway."

"Indeed…"

_It's still irking me: what the hell do they really want? Damned bastards… They make my warrior blood boil… I can't stand cowards who won't face me on person and hide behind walls and proxies. You're just weaklings who would better off working at some office… Rot away into nothingness!_


	16. Chapter 16: Digging

**Chapter 16: Digging**

12:45 PM (Philippines Time), Monday October the 24th…

"… Eh… _Aibou_? News."

"Hmmm? Did you find something?"

"I managed to uncover one of their sleepers."

"Ah. Where?"

"Sapporo police…"

"Sapporo police… What rank?"

"Lowest rank. But good at computers."

"I see. An insider to infiltrate the police network and figure out what they actually know about them."

"Yeah. Another man placed there by the Seraphs and which these guys re-hired… I tipped them off with the evidence and they've arrested the man: they're interrogating him."

"Fine."

Eisei stepped into the throne room to report to Kuroban: he wasn't too surprised by the news but he didn't seem interested in the first place: he was impatiently tapping the right armrest with his fingers as well and his mood didn't seem to be the best.

"D-did something happen?"

"Slur called me. That Void rascal has made the move we were expecting the man to do at last…" He grumbled.

"The report…?"

"Yeah… Sent a photocopy to Hikari's place in a package by post along with a printed threat… If he and Rock Man get in the way of their plans he's going to send it to the media. Typical of a damned coward." He fumed.

"W-well, but…" Eisei began to argue.

"Chut!" Kuroban scolded.

Eisei gulped and shut up while Kuroban paid attention but the only sounds were those of the waves and the seagulls.

"The walls might have ears." He whispered.

"Devil."

"I've got Ernst and another 2 searching every nook and cranny in the inside and the outside. If needed I'm going to take my robot apart to make sure they haven't built one inside of it."

"But how they install those without us noticing?"

"Maybe they sent a stealth Navi to do the job for them."

"Ah. Then it makes sense."

"Anyway. Keep on digging. Take care of the small fry. I'm saving my energies for the big fishes."

"O-okay."

"And remember… Don't bother others. I have eyes on you the whole time so it's useless to try to play the "coincidence" card. If you don't want me to get further pissed off than this then… Behave."

"R-roger! L-later!"

Eisei ran off as if fearing to be the target of Kuroban's annoyance: Kuroban sighed and sat back on the chair while tapping the armrest.

_Bah. Not like it has too much of a consequence. Hikari and Rock Man can intervene using that trump card… Hmpf… Why bother to threaten them if they quit the Cyber CID years ago? The fool must lack info. Must think they're still "heroes"… Wrong. Focusing on that, though, will make you lower the guard. We have more than enough power to crush you and whatever plots you come up with. _

"Prince? It's me, Umisama." Umisama knocked at the door.

"Come in."

"Yes, sir. I finished my underwater inspection. Our sensors are working and I found no anomalies in them. I did go over their coding as well. There was nothing extra or abnormal." Umisama reported.

"Good. Did you find anything out of place?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Alright. Good work. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir. With your leave, sir."

Umisama bowed and stepped out of the room while Kuroban rubbed his chin.

"Let's wait for the other 2 reports."

"Sir? It's me, Kisei."

"Come in."

Kisei came in and next and saluted: Kuroban indicated that he needn't so he lowered the arm.

"I searched the beach and dug around but found nothing. I escalated the walls and checked all possible spots but found nothing. I also kept an eye on the seagulls but all of them were real and had no weird attachments to them." Kisei reported.

"What about the palm trees?"

"Checked them as well but there was nothing odd."

"Good. Was there anything that appealed as odd? Anything?"

"Not really, sir."

"Alright. You can leave."

"Roger, sir."

"And this isn't the military: don't bother with that salute." Kuroban added.

"Understood, sir."

Kisei also left and Ernst came in next: Kuroban climbed down from the throne to speak with him.

"So, Ernst… Any luck?"

"I found a Spark Bee flying in the central tube but it self-deleted when I tried to come closer. I found nothing else in there and did check the robot as well but it had nothing. I found no outgoing signals either."

"Ah. So they used a Virus to listen in. I was right that we were being listened. Now that we've found that out they'll either give up or try with another means." Kuroban guessed.

"I see. Should I do anything else?"

"Check the aerial space over the base and the surroundings as well: you never know."

"Roger, sir. Immediately, sir."

"Good. If you find anything then, if possible, try to capture it for analysis and if you can't then don't blame yourself."

"Understood, sir."

Ernst nodded and left the room: he suddenly gasped and ducked as a bang rang out and a bullet hit the wall: Kuroban rushed to the door and found Spiral there with a Makarov gun: he'd put on an IR scope and was now aiming for Kuroban's forehead: Kuroban merely dashed for the guy as the Aristeros Shield formed in front of him: Spiral gasped and shot in a row but all rounds bounced off: Kuroban tackled the man and had him crash against the opposite wall: he held him there by force as he formed the Dexia Sword and sliced the gun in half: Ernst was still frozen in that position and looked angst-filled: he grumbled and managed to recover as he directed a hatred-filled glare at Spiral who seemed to gulp, even.

"T-this thing…! It's my enemy…! T-this thing…!" He began to hiss.

"… Ernst! Discipline!" Kuroban ordered.

"Huh! Y-yes, sir!" He snapped out of it.

"W-what's with that kid?" Spiral gasped.

"Nothing of your filthy business, Red Grant wannabe."

"Don't put me in that same boat as that deranged idiot!" Spiral grumbled.

"Why not? KGB and SMERSH were buddy-buddy."

"Grah!"

"Very daring of you to try to kill one of my men in front of my eyes: did Void think that'd be enough to stop us?"

"Of course! Else I wouldn't have come!"

"Hmpf. Then that man is stupider than I thought."

"Hah! His Grace is a genius!"

"No. Just a copycat."

"Copycat! His Grace! Damn you, you brat!"

"I'm 26. I'm an adult wherever I go to." Kuroban drily replied.

"… You filthy lot deserve something worse than Hell…" Ernst icily muttered as if to himself.

"Ernst! Behave!" Kuroban ordered.

"… Yes, sir."

"I can handle this. Go ring the alarm. Tell all members to be in DH form and be on their toes. Maybe that Seed woman's come as well to try to kill one of us." Kuroban ordered.

"Roger, sir!"

Ernst ran off towards the right while Kuroban aimed his Dexia Sword to make it touch Spiral's neck.

"So. Spoiled KGB man. Is that all you can do? You weakling." He taunted next.

"S-spoiled! Me!"

"Yeah. I read your KGB file. The whole of it."

"Should've been burnt up when the KGB died! Damned fools! SEED!" He roared.

"I heard you already. Huff." Seed sighed over the radio.

There was the blinding flash followed by a burst of noise and Spiral was warped out of the place: Kuroban lowered the blade and the shield and fumed.

"Hmpf. If you want war then we'll give it to you. Throw your best at me, Void. I'm going to crush it with my arts." He icily muttered.

_I guess what happened to Ernst… That gun stole his mother's life years ago… And it was going to steal his… No wonder his hatred surged out like that… Ernst… Don't lose hold of yourself. I won't let these bastards make fun of your disgraces… I swear! I'm going to destroy them!_

"We're ready, Prince!" End Angel ran in followed by Ruthless Vine and Blue Wave.

"The enemy fled. But keep searching. Just in case it's a feint and that they're lurking elsewhere. Ernst. You stay here at my side."

"… Yes, Prince."

"Make a deep breath. And slowly exhale."

He did so as Kuroban picked the remains of the gun and warped them elsewhere so that End Angel wouldn't see them: End Angel was shivering and grimacing and parts of his form began to self-delete.

"Cancel it and go rest. That's an order."

"Roger, sir…! But…!" He growled and gripped his fists.

"Ernst… I know what it means to you but… We can't change the past."

"I knew that! Prince! But! Seeing that in front of my eyes…!"

Ernst collapsed into his knees and began to cry while Kuroban crouched next to him and sighed: he couldn't do anything to comfort him…

17:01 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Well. Another day ends."

"Sure."

"Today was intense."

"I know… I need strawberry milk!"

"I'd rather have water."

"Huff. And it's only begun…! What horror!"

"Oh come on. Dekao. It's just having patience."

"Forget it, Netto – kun. He's never had it."

"Good point."

The Akihara High 1 – A class group were chatting as they prepared to leave after the day's classes: Netto and Saito were calm, Meiru looked a bit tired, Yaito sighed from tiredness, Hikawa was muttering aloud and Dekao looked terrified at the difficulty level: Netto rolled his eyes and tried to calm him down but Saito reminded him it was pointless.

"So, Roll? Did anything happen?"

"Not really. Nothing." Roll replied.

"Nothing, desu."

"I have heard of no happenings." Glyde reported.

"Guts, guts! Guts Man met Number Man! Got Rare Chip! De guts!" Guts Man came in.

"Really? Show it to me!" Dekao eagerly ordered.

"Guts, guts. It's a Mini Bomb, de guts."

"MINI BOMB?" He gasped.

"I think Guts Man got the idea that it's a Rare Chip: I don't see Number Man as the type to scam like that." Roll guessed.

"I thought that Number Man's Chips were all Rare Chips, de guts."

"They aren't. Mini Bomb is a common Chip." Roll sighed.

"Sorry, Roll – chan! De guts!" He apologized.

"Don't worry." Roll shrugged.

"Speaking of which… There was a poster saying that they sold "Digging Chips" but I am not sure what they were." Glyde recalled.

"Maybe it's a rip-off from _Pokémon_." Hikawa shrugged.

"Surely." Netto wasn't surprised.

"By the way… Did the fellows drop by with the 6:66 PM express from Yucatán?" Meiru asked with a grin.

"Not Alfred again…" Netto groaned.

"Is there a point to it, Meiru – chan?" Saito asked.

"Who knows?"

"Cha do." Roll sighed.

"Let's not end up like the other day."

"I don't intend do."

"Pride alone doesn't guarantee victory." Yaito warned.

"I know! It's just that…! I feel frustrated." She admitted.

"We all do. But we don't take it out on others as if they were to blame for that." Hikawa told her.

"Hmmm… Guess you've got a point. Oh well. Maybe it's just this heavy air on the classroom. Some fresh air will do well. Let's go." She sighed and began to walk out.

The group exited the classroom, walked down the corridor, down the stairs and into the hall where they changed their shoes: they then crossed the yard and exited into the street.

"OK. We're now going to meet up with Raito so… See you tomorrow morning!"

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

Both of them headed in the direction of the middle school and soon met up with Raito on the usual spot.

"Sorry. Did we keep you waiting?" Netto asked.

"Not really. I've just arrived as well." Raito admitted.

Saito frowned when he spotted a figure wearing a trench coat, hat and sunglasses leaning on the wall next to a light post and reading the newspapers: he narrowed his eyes.

_Netto – kun. Be on your toes. There's a suspicious man._

_I know. I noticed._

_Let's not call it to Raito – kun's attention. So that he doesn't get afraid._

_OK._

"Let's go."

The three of them began to head for their houses: the man began to follow them without bothering to properly hide in the first place: Netto began to talk about something with Raito while Saito kept watch from time to time.

"… and if you build up energy you can deliver further damage using the bat: it's one of the sure-kill moves!" He was telling him with energy and passion to keep him hooked.

"I noticed, yes."

_Oriol. Do you hear me?_

_What's up, Saito?_

_Stalker._

_Stalker!_

_Not sure who they are or what their game is. Can you send Legato to stalk the man and try to figure out who they are?_

_Sure. The stalker gets stalked._

_Heh! Talk about irony. It's like "the hunter got hunted"… Or "the hunter gets hunted"…_

_Sure thing. Wait a couple minutes._

_Alright._

Saito heard a familiar sound and although no – one was visible he could perceive Legato trailing the man from behind them: he inwardly grinned.

_Gotcha, ugly._

"… And Captain Falcon always challenges you with his "show me your moves!"… It means that he wants you to show what you've got." Netto was explaining next.

"Ah! I see. I was wondering what it meant, yes." Raito admitted with a smile.

_What do you make out of it, Legato?_

_Hmmm… Doesn't seem to hold a weapon of any kind. Maybe it's a proxy who's here to see if that threat is having any effect on you guys' morale or not. Maybe he'll use this guy's observations as basis to increase the threat or come up with a new one. _Legato suggested.

_What do you say about it, Oriol?_

_Hmmm… Let's not involve Raito – kun or you 2. Legato! Wait until they all get to their homes and then discreetly handle the matter. Even if this man's a proxy he should have some means to report to the next man in the command chain. Maybe it's WhatsApp._

_Roger that, sir._

"So then! See you tomorrow."

"Thank you very much."

"You needn't!"

They parted ways with Raito and headed for their home: Netto unlocked the door and they stepped in.

"We're home!"

"Welcome back!" Haruka greeted back.

They calmly took off their shoes and put on the slippers before heading to their room: they took out the materiel and Netto began to work with in on the desk while Saito used a small table set on the center of the room to work.

_Alright. Legato! Time for some action._

Saito picked his PET (colored green and white) and turned it on.

"Let's see Legato in action."

"Heh!"

FPS (first person view) of the man's back appeared and a Neo Variable Sword could be seen pressed against the back.

"Chut."

"Yikes!" The man gasped in a hush.

"Who are you?" Legato questioned.

"M-m-m-me~?"

"Shadow Nova? Answer me or I'm going to have you buy a new coat because I'll turn it into lil pieces here and now." Legato threatened.

"YIKES! Yes, I am!"

"A proxy."

"Y-yes!"

"Who's your boss?"

"M-magnum!"

"Contact means?"

"W-well… I write it on paper and leave it on a dead mailbox… A small cavity in the NE corner of the nearby 7-Eleven…! I don't know anything else…! I was told to check that place every 3 days to find a paper with orders…!" He began to confess in a rush.

"Fine. Flee and don't ever come back. I'm the Grim Reaper!" Legato seemed to snicker, even.

"UGRA~H!"

The man fled while tossing the newspaper and Legato inwardly chuckled as he turned invisible again.

"Going to check it out, sir." He told Kuroshiro.

"Good, good! Go for it. We've got a lead. Small one but will do." Kuroshiro chuckled.

"Magnum? Talk about an original codename." Netto snickered.

"Sure thing. They felt inspired by Alfred." Saito laughed.

"And Uncle Moran." Kuroshiro laughed next.

"What happened?" Haruka came in.

"Some mister saw a wild cat and thought it had the rabies." Saito quickly improvised.

"Or maybe he was allergic to them and fears them."

"Oh! I see. Allergies are a bad thing indeed. Luckily I don't think I ever had any particular allergy." Haruka distractedly muttered.

She headed off the room and the twins shrugged as they began to get ready to work on the homework.

"Hum… This looks like it could take some time." Netto muttered.

"Don't worry. Let's just focus on it and we'll soon have it done."

19:46 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh! Man. I'd never guessed you were that much of a masochist, Atarasei. To the point that you wanted to do it with me."

"Heh! I wanted something different for once in a while."

"That outfit must've cost a small fortune, huh?"

"Yeah. I bought it on secret. I actually used some money from the Seraphs that I once hacked time ago."

"You thought they deserved it, eh?"

"Sure…"

"What about that dead mailbox?"

"We've placed a fake report there. Nobody's come to pick it up yet but maybe they come when the store closes."

"Makes sense."

Enzan was having sex with Ataresei on his apartment's bedroom bed and they were talking in the meanwhile.

Atarasei had put on a whole black leather outfit consisting on a thick collar, a short torso-length vest with holes to expose the nipples, lines running down the rest of his upper body while forming a diamond shape, a circular band tightening the base of his cock, long gloves and boots.

He currently had his hands behind his back immobilized with a few slabs of chains having a padlock tying them together.

Enzan was beneath him and stuffing his cock into Atarasei's ass (above him) while teasing his nipples with the hands: he looked amused and Atarasei was grinning as well.

"By the way, Ijuuin… Did you properly broom the place?" Atarasei asked.

"Blues and I spent the whole afternoon going over every nook and cranny and found nothing. We searched outside the apartment and into the space between walls too. Nothing at all."

"Alright. But let's not talk about important stuff aloud just in case. You never know." Atarasei warned.

"OK."

"But, well… We already said that of the dead mailbox."

"True. We should've thought of it before."

"Guess that…"

"What did you do with Alex?"

"Oh, he stayed at _Purgatory_. He wanted to work out at the gym for a while so…" He shrugged.

"I see. I sent Blues to inspect the surroundings and when he's done he'll go stake out that dead mailbox."

"OK. We sent Cosmo Man."

"Hum. Let's hope Blues doesn't get in the mood over what happened in the past with the guy."

"Ah. True. Maybe we should send Tom or Victor instead?"

"Guess that. He's never interacted with them so…"

"But you know… Hikari's taking it pretty well despite that threat from those rascals…"

"Hikari's not the type to be easily intimidated."

"Interesting."

"Do you know anything we don't know?"

"Well… According to Slur – sama… That Spiral guy showed up at the Shunoros HQ and almost managed to kill one of them but the Prince easily beat the guy and made a run for it. Talk about close." Atarasei explained with a sigh.

"Devil. They're getting dangerous. Now they don't mind resorting to killing, even."

"Yeah. Maybe it's a sign that they're desperate to stall for more time and achieve their goal, whatever it is. Or to renew their public image after the shame that the failed Bangkok attack brought with it."

"Guess that. And proxies are indeed proxies: cowardly and stupid and easily handled. If we can manage to figure out the chain of command then we could get a clue to their whereabouts." Enzan muttered.

"Yeah. Sure."

"By the way… You've never felt jealous of that guy?"

"Huh? Ah! No. At all. Unlike that guy I never felt any real attachment: guess Dullahan's to blame for that. Wanted to make sure I would be merciless on them. And I was. But I knew from the start that I was no more than a pawn to see if it was possible to absorb Forte's power and once I could the rascal was surely intending to backstab me and get that power for his useless hide." Atarasei replied.

"Eh… Well. Damn it. I can't shake off the feeling that we're being either watched or listened."

"Yeah… Maybe we should recall Blues and tell the guy to patrol the apartment once again… Maybe it's not something set on a fixed spot: maybe it's a Virus somewhere else that's listening in… Maybe beyond that door, even." He looked at the bedroom's door.

"Luckily I left my PET just right here… Blues! Do you copy?" He called out to Blues.

"Yes, Enzan – sama."

"Come back to the apartment and sweep it again. I can't shake off this feeling unless you're here to reassure me there's nothing spying on us!"

"Roger that, sir."

"Start by the corridor outside the bedroom."

"Understood, sir."

"And don't come in unless I tell you to do so."

"Roger, sir."

Enzan had picked the PET which he'd left to his right and called for Blues: he issued some orders before leaving it on its place and continuing to play with Atarasei: Enzan grinned and released inside of the guy so he took his cock out and picked a dildo which he stuffed into Atarasei's ass: he turned it on at the lowest speed and Atarasei chuckled.

"Teasing me, eh, Ijuuin?"

"Sure thing. Now you'll do me a neat blowjob."

"Sure. I missed those. Go ahead, _Danna_ – sama~…"

Enzan placed his knees to the sides of Atarasei's neck and gripped his head from behind to have him begin to suck his cock: he set the pace and Atarasei closed his eyes as he followed him: Enzan spotted how Atarasei's cock was getting hard again.

"The dildo's taking effect, eh?"

Atarasei shrugged while Enzan kept on setting the pace: he gasped and released while filling up his mouth: Enzan rubbed Atarasei's cock to harden it and then placed his body over it.

"I'm going to have a ride!"

"OK!"

He slid it inside of his own ass and began to move up and down while he increased the dildo's speed with a remote skipping the middle and jumping to the fastest speed all of a sudden: Atarasei groaned and shuddered as his cock got harder and Enzan rode on it while rubbing his own cock.

"Get ready to be showered! Shower time!"

Enzan released and some spurts landed on Atarasei's face: his own released tightened Atarasei's cock and he released as well: Enzan pulled it out and then gripped Atarasei to rub his nipples against each other: both groaned as their cocks rubbed against each other too.

"Too good, man!"

Enzan suddenly began to kiss Atarasei who replied: they let the passion guide them as they kissed and soon released: they broke apart, panting.

"Heh. Not bad." Enzan chuckled.

"Yeah. I was right on choosing ya, Ijuuin. You're the hard type."

"Hard type, eh? What about Legato?"

"Heh! Legato's quite the active guy but doesn't go too hard. Guess he saves his energies for Saito instead."

"Obviously. Blues! Status report."

"Yes, Enzan – sama. I checked the wi-fi and the phone carrier signals."

"And found no weird data mixed in with the outgoing signals?" Enzan asked next.

"Nothing, sir. I scanned everything with IR and X-Ray. Save the bedroom and the bathroom, that is."

"Good point. Maybe there's something under the bed. I'm going to check it out myself. You go over the firewall configuration and make sure nothing's out of place and that there aren't any weird exceptions in the exception list." Enzan ordered.

"Acknowledged, sir."

"Over and out."

"Ah… I feel so good, man. Your dick's not that bad either. But Legato's a bit thicker, even." He chuckled.

"No wonder. Oh well. I'm going to unlock that."

Enzan unlocked the padlock so Atarasei stretched his arms and got to his feet while Enzan sat on the bed's edge: he pulled out the already stopped dildo and brought it with him to the adjacent bathroom to cleanse it: he hummed a tune as he did so while Enzan put on his black pajamas and slippers.

"OK. I'm gonna dress up. Wait a couple minutes." He told Enzan as he headed for the bathroom.

"Fine."

Atarasei locked the bathroom door as he dressed up again while Enzan hummed a tune and turned on the lights: he checked the underside of the bed with the PET and found nothing odd so he began to scan the walls and the ceiling where there was nothing either: he shrugged and looked satisfied with the outcome.

"OK! All done. Could you keep custody of this? I don't want Alex to get the wrong idea about it." He handed Enzan a brown suitcase which had the stuff inside of it.

"Sure thing. Come back anytime, stranger."

"_Bio 4_, eh? Heh, heh, heh. Well then. See ya around, Ijuuin!"

"Of course, Atarasei. See you soon. Heh!"

Atarasei opened the door and exited into the flat's corridor: he spotted Blues calmly looking around.

"Hiya, Blues! Did ya get rid of some useless weaklings?"

"Sure. They didn't even last 3 seconds." He dully replied.

"That's the spirit. Blues _musou_!"

"_Musou_? Peerless? Why not. Like the games." He got amused.

"Yeah! Also means that you bust them all and they stand no chance to begin with."

"I like the sound of that too." Enzan approved of it.

"Thank you, Enzan – sama."

"I'm going hiking into the rolling climbing!" He made up a tongue-twister.

"Not bad. Patent it."

"Sure thing! _Ciao_! _Hasta la vista_! Heh, heh, heh!"

23:23 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Chut! Someone's coming…"

"It must be our man."

"You're faster than me: go seize them. I'll set up a Dream Aura around you just in case there's a sniper or an accomplice."

"Alright."

Blues and Cosmo Man had been staking out a closed down 7-Eleven store while hiding using stealth camouflage: they spotted a figure walking towards the store and they whispered to each other about the course to be taken: Blues swiftly and silently ran towards there and approached the figure as they stopped in the SE corner and slid the right hand inside of a small cavity: Blues quickly gripped the man's neck and brusquely pulled his left arm backwards: the man yelped.

"Silence. Speak. You're Magnum, no?"

"Y-y-yeah…!" He nervously admitted.

"Who's your Boss?"

"Lord Spiral…!"

"Already? Talk about a short chain. Fine. Contact means?"

"Can't say it!"

"I've got someone with me who set up a Dream Aura. No sniper and no gunman can hit you now. Speak." Blues replied.

"But I'll be killed nevertheless!"

"Not if we pretend to be you."

"W-well, then…! The post…! A letter addressed to the Russian Embassy in Stockholm… There's someone there who receives it and then sends it to Lord Spiral… Name's Vladimir Apostrov…!" He whispered in a rush.

"And how do Spiral's orders reach you?"

"A letter is sent to the Russian Consulate in Sapporo… I must go pick it every Monday…!"

"Hum. They ID you?"

"No! The gateman is one of the org… Places it on a nearby Family Mart's dead mailbox… And that's where I must go pick it while leaving behind a paper with the words "OK" to acknowledge I got it…"

"Hum. I see. Spiral must use his position as former KGB to influence there and there. Fine. We're taking you under custody and we'll replace you for a while… Bring the car!" He called out.

A black Toyota drove in with the lights off and stopped: Superintendent Oda and a couple of officers stepped down.

"By Merton! This is a golden chance. We're not going to let it escape: did you make sure the perimeter is safe?" He asked.

"Yes. I did. There are no humans, Navis, Viruses or machines in a 500 meter radius. I called for Shade Man to inspect the skies as well while Freeze Man is inspecting the sewers as well. They've got no reason to suspect this." Cosmo Man became visible and talked to them.

"Roger. The car's got bullet-proof windows too. Let's go."

They cuffed Magnum and had him sit down on the rear seat with both officers taking custody: Oda picked the fake report with a handkerchief to make sure Magnum's fingerprints remained on it: Blues entered the car's Cyber World and began to keep watch as the car drove off: Cosmo Man stayed behind and scanned the area again.

"Shade Man? What's the status? Over."

"Nothing in the air." Shade Man calmly replied.

"Nothing here either." Freeze Man added.

"Alright. I'll follow the car just in case there's something at some point along the route. You should do the same."

"Roger." Both replied.

Cosmo Man hovered and began to follow the car as it drove across the silent night city: nothing happened at all and, after a while, it reached the Net Police HQ safely: the passengers got down and the officers escorted Magnum elsewhere while Oda walked towards Meijin and Enzan, who were there.

"Blues told you already: we've got a golden chance here."

"This must be compartmentalized." Blues warned.

"I agree. We'll tell Slur – sama. But no – one else should be told. Make sure that the officers don't say a word about it either. If someone asks they should say they caught a thief in a location totally unrelated: no – one will bother if it was a petty thief." Cosmo Man suggested.

"Good idea. I'll take care of that. You guys should bring this to the post and dispatch it. Then send someone to go watch over that Russian fellow and how he makes that report reach Spiral. Maybe Spiral comes over at the embassy with total impunity and just picks it up. If a KGB man can be the President of Sharo then another could be the Ambassador in Sweden as well." Oda told them.

"Good points indeed. We're going to mobilize immediately. This is our best chance."

Cosmo Man warped away while Enzan narrowed his eyes as if feeling something.

_We're getting closer…! Just you wait, you lot… We're going to turn you into DUST!_

"By the way… Ijuuin – kun. Come to my office. There's something I wanted to talk with you." Oda ordered Enzan.

"Roger, sir."

"Meijin – kun, you can go rest already."

"Thank you, sir. But I don't think I'll be able to with this tension. It's too high and I feel it making my skin tingle." Meijin admitted with a sigh as he barely held back a yawn.

"The letter will take at least 1 or 2 days to be delivered. So we'll have to wait nevertheless. We can tip off the Sapporo police and they investigate the gateman themselves… Let's leave that Russian in hands of Golden Star too… So go have some rest." Oda told him.

"Roger, sir. Good night, sir."

"See ya!" Punk replied.

"Follow me, Ijuuin – kun." Oda began to head for the elevator.

"Yes, sir."

They climbed into the elevator and headed into Oda's office: Enzan shut the door while Oda opened a drawer and drew a device: he began to check the room.

"It's a mike detector. Hum. Looks like we're safe. Just in case I'll use this jamming device to block all incoming and outgoing signals. This way we'll make sure to be able to freely talk without being overheard. Tell Blues to stand watch on the entrance just in case. And to check the adjacent spaces as well." He ordered.

"Roger, sir. Blues."

"Acknowledged, Enzan – sama."

Blues left the PET and Oda drew the jammer: he turned it on and then leant forward.

"… Ijuuin – kun. I think you know something you haven't told me. Involving Hikari – kun." He began.

"… Yes, sir… Eh… By the way, sir… Did Uncle Melon bless us?"

"Huh? Ah! Yes. Uncle Merton sure did." He seemingly realized what Enzan was talking about.

"I'm sorry, sir. I just wanted to make sure you were the real one. That of the Greek guys has still left paranoia on me."

"No wonder. You took part in the final battle, right?" Oda asked him next.

"No, I didn't. I felt like it was beyond my power, for once."

"Good. That confirms you're the real one. No – one but you or Hikari – kun apart from me would know that. It's not recorded either."

"Yes, sir. Well… Yes. I know it… That Hikari _is_ Kage. So he doesn't need to worry about the threat because he can oppose them as Golden Star's Kage and be unrelated to Hikari. Well. Maybe they'll think Kage is doing it for Hikari's sake but since it'd be his initiative then their threat can't take effect there." Enzan explained.

"I see. And the "Kage" who was his classmate years ago… That was Kuroshiro – kun, right? I realized because after that incident with the Latvian some months ago he called Hikari – hakase and I was witness to it… He talked about him like he knew him well… And I realized."

"Yeah. Kuroshiro and he made up a plan years ago so that Hikari could recover from his depression following the incident that the fools who wrote that damned report staged… He staying as a classmate for a whole year would help establish that Kage and Hikari were separate persons and there was a whole class and a whole school who could confirm that. After Kuroshiro staged his "disappearance" that was when Hikari began to assume that other ID of himself…"

"I see. Well. If it helped him recover from that tragic incident and gave him new allies and the motivation to keep fighting for those he cared about then I don't have anything to complain about. He needed a confident who could support him. And he's managed to find a reasonable balance between his work at Golden Star and his studies which is very commendable as well. Good. That's all I wanted to ask of you. You may go rest, Ijuuin – kun. Busy days ahead of us."

"Indeed, sir. Well, Blues?"

"Nothing odd happened and I found nothing odd either."

"Maybe they realize we would expect them to spy on us and didn't bother to set up anything." Oda shrugged.

"Alright. I'll be going back home. Good evening, sir."

"Good evening. I'll call you once we've got any news."

"Understood, sir."

"Good evening, sir." Blues added.

"Have proper rest. Things are about to turn hectic. I've got that hunch and my hunch tends to be correct most of the time."

Enzan nodded in understanding and left while Oda sighed and turned off the jammer: he checked the PC and made sure that it was still off.

_I pulled out the power wire and the Ethernet wire too. And put cello tape all around the edges so that it can't be opened without taking it out. Even if they replaced it with new one there'd be traces of it. We've finally got a powerful lead. It's about time we finish this pointless battle. Before civilians are harmed… Hikari – kun, do your best but don't let your emotions cloud your judgment either… You must be rational… I believe in your potential: I never stopped believing on it… Go for it! _

"Eh… Superintendent…" Meijin knocked at the door.

"What is it?"

"It's odd."

"What is?" He gasped.

"That Magnum had a Rolex."

"You're telling me it has GPS, a bug, or…?"

"Insofar doesn't seem to be the case. But the odd part is…"

"What is?"

"That it's got Russian written underneath it. Punk translated it and it reads "I'm an idiot"…"

"Oh come on. That must be some joke Spiral came up with."

"Ah. Good point. Guess that proves the man IS arrogant."

"Of course. Don't worry about it. We're about to close on them, at last!"


	17. Chapter 17: Closing in

**Chapter 17: Closing in**

07:47 AM (Stockholm Time), Wednesday October the 26th…

"… Good morning, sir."

"Morning, Hans. Is Vladimir at his office?"

"Yes, he is."

"Good. I'll go see him."

"I'll ring him, sir."

"Of course."

_There you are. So you did come in person. Hmpf. That smug face will soon be replaced by fear and despair… How fitting!_

Spiral (wearing sunglasses today) walked into the Russian Embassy and spoke with the gateman who calmly greeted him as a usual visitor: he opened the door for the staff so that he needn't pass the metal detector and the gateman picked a phone on the wall to dial an internal extension.

"Sir. Comrade Spiral has come, sir."

"Good. Send him to my office." A man replied.

"Roger, sir. You know the way, sir."

"Of course. Later, Hans."

Spiral headed down the main corridor and turned right to open a door that led into the stairs heading up: he climbed a couple floors and ended on another floor: he headed for the door in front of him and knocked on it a couple times.

"Come in!"

Spiral opened the door and stepped into a decorated office: another man about his age was waiting there sitting on a red leather armchair behind a pine wood desk: Spiral sat down on the chair opposite his and placed an envelope over the table.

"Hum."

The man picked it and opened it to find 10 banknotes each worth 5,000 Russian rubles: he calmly picked them and examined them using his desk lamp to check they were genuine: the man seemed satisfied so he pocketed the envelope on his inner chest pocket and then headed for the eastern wall: he opened a panel.

_Aha. I see._

There was a safe there and the man operated them while Spiral hummed a tune and observed a portrait that contained a Soviet-era poster of Stalin and progress on the south wall: the man opened the safe and took out a small package with a couple stamps: he closed the safe and shut the panel to give the package to Spiral: he checked it as it to make sure it hadn't been opened and nodded in satisfaction.

"See you, Comrade."

"Good morning." The man dully replied.

Spiral came out and undid the way he'd walked before: he waved to Hans, the gateman, who saluted in response: Spiral walked out and into the street: he grumbled when he saw the famous multi-colored pedestrian crossing in front of the main perimeter gate and fumed before heading south into a small white Peugeot car parked about 50 meters south: Seed was on the driver's seat and munching some chewing gum while listening to a Russian choir over the radio: Spiral climbed into the passenger's seat and she merely turned on the engine to drive away without saying a single word.

_You do not realize you have an extra passenger. Hmpf._

The car drove across Stockholm to then exit it and into the direction of Ystad: they reached the Mariagatan district and stopped in front of a non-descript house, one of many: both came down and Spiral opened the hall door to let Seed in first: he closed the door behind him and both climbed up the stairs to the first floor: they then headed for the left-hand apartment and Seed unlocked it.

_Hmpf… _

She headed to behind the door and punched the disarm code in the alarm control panel: Spiral turned on the lights and locked the door behind him.

"I'm going to check the report and then dispatch it."

"Alright. I'll try to set up some new cameras and microphones but it's getting harder. Now they're looking at every nook and cranny. I've had to sacrifice a few that were instants again from being found." Seed told him as he took off the sunglasses and pocketed them.

"Can't be helped. Let's do what we can. Lord Void's thirst for info is endless so we must make sure to satisfy it as well as we can."

"I knew that, Muscovite."

"Will you stop degrading me like that, you plebeian?" Spiral got annoyed on the spot.

"Speak for yourself, declining nobles' descendant. Someone who never had to suffer the harsh Russian winter. I felt it on my flesh for over 16 years before I joined the KGB and got established here. But you were always in your nice manor, with heating and all." She icily countered with barely restrained anger.

"Lord Splinter would…!"

"…say you've got no qualifications to believe yourself to be the king of the world." She finished.

"HMPF!"

Spiral headed down the corridor towards a room at the end of it and shut the door with a slam while Seed headed towards a room on the right side which was her control station: the invisible stalker headed towards the end of the corridor.

_I can take care of that control station later on. I first must figure out how they contact Void. That is priority one. The other things can wait for a later moment, anyway. I can come back anytime. _

The stalker managed to get into the room without even opening the door and found Spiral reading the report while sitting in front of a PC having a 3D model of the "Infinitus" robot displayed on it: there were some print-outs of renders of the model and they had a lot of hand-written Russsian annotations: Spiral was humming something as looked satisfied with the contents of the report.

"Good! Irritated, angered, frustrated, pissed off… As Lord Void had predicted: His Grace's a genius! HMPF!" He smugly muttered.

_Only that those words were written by us to make you believe everything was going according to your plans. If it was then you would surely have no reason to suspect anything. _

"It should be about to come…" He glanced at his wristwatch.

_It is about 9 AM… I see. Maybe he cannot contact Void and is Void who contacts him with orders to be executed or to question the status of things._

There was a vibration and Spiral drew a Motorola cell-phone: he checked the screen and pressed the answer key.

"Hitherto shalt thou come but no further." A distorted voice announced over the phone.

"Job 38:11." Spiral replied.

"Status." The voice drily ordered.

"As expected."

"Good. Next orders…"

"Yes, sir."

"Set up a bomb in the Danish Embassy and make it look like it is the work of Finland. Scatter rumors. Create a lot of noise. I need a bit more time: until Saturday at the earliest. That should create enough confusion and noise to keep them busy." Void ordered.

"Roger. Will have it executed in less than 12 hours." Spiral calmly acknowledged.

"Good. Next contact will be on Friday at 11 AM. This number, as usual, will cease existing. Good luck."

"Glory to Shadow Nova!"

The call ended and Spiral pocketed the phone while rubbing his chin and seemingly thinking about it.

"Hmmm… Let's have the Danish branch take care of that. A bribe there, a couple scapegoats and that's it. Let's look up a historical reason why Finland would want to pay back at Denmark." He muttered.

He began to type into the PC.

"… Hmmm… Maybe we can say they're remorseful of Denmark always looking down on them and blame it to some rising ultra-nationalism and such… The classical tale." He decided aloud.

_Hmmm… So Void uses one-time SIM cards to contact these two and they cannot call back. Careful indeed. And the cards must have been bought all across the world for all we know. Just by investigating one number we will not know where it was bought. And even if we did it was surely paid in cash or a proxy bought it so we would not get anywhere to begin with: it would have been an effort made in vain. _

"… Odd. I had the feeling someone was starting at me from behind but that can't be… Paranoia…" Spiral muttered as he turned around and frowned.

_I better not expose this place yet. We need more info. So let us leave them as they are. We could warn Finland and Denmark… Maybe it would be better for the Interpol to do that… They would have better credibility than us because we are not well-known overseas. Maybe we should leave the chain of orders as it is. This way we could know what they attempt to do in Japan. Trying to place monitoring here is risky. They could suspect that and our efforts could be wasted. Discretion is the key. We could suggest the Interpol to expedite some agents that pose as terrorists and make it look like they committed a blunder and were caught during the preparatory phase… Yes. That will do. _

The stalker exited the room without opening the door and then entered Seed's room since she'd left the door open: she was finishing assembling a small spheroid with a camera lens and three helixes: she sighed as she stopped and glanced up to the screen to see the camera feeds and audio feeds: one of them showed a familiar small warehouse.

_The boat warehouse… So they control the boats' coming and leaving as if hoping to figure out Purgatory's location through that. Whatever. I do not think they can pull something like that attack on the Shunoros Island again so easily. No human soldier is a rival for our materialized Navis. I should pull out and get back to the base. _

The "stalker" appeared in the Cyber World and it turned out to be Slur: she looked unfazed and unsurprised as always: she formed a purple "portal" in the air and became a yellow streak of energy that jumped into it and emerged inside of the Zero Cyber World: she landed on the main platform and found Zero going over several files.

"Hey. Boss. How'd it go like?"

"Very productive. But I would rather not share too many details. Especially…" She glanced around.

"Oh come on. My helpers don't chat to outsiders, Boss… Nobody but you and Serenade can come in here, anyway. So you don't seem to have a point, Boss." Zero tried to defend them.

"You never know. Later."

"Boss… Stop being so antagonistic against 'em, will ya? I can't work with that!"

He sighed and if he could've rolled his eyes, he'd surely done so but ended up grumbling under his breath instead.

"Back to work, guys."

"WORK BY KWOR!"

"… That sounded a bit… forced. I think. Oh well. Let's just focus on the everyday work and that's it." Zero muttered.

16: 36 PM (Japan Time)…

"… I see."

"What do you think?"

"I guess it's the best way to handle that without raising their suspicions. And maybe that would trigger an off-schedule call with new orders. Maybe we could figure out some pattern or something."

"That is what I was thinking of."

"Good. But let's be careful."

"Yes. This is between you and me, President Hades. Nobody else must know for now."

"What about the Cyber CID?"

"Hum. Let us say it was unproductive and no contact came."

"Alright. To fool the enemy first fool the ally…"

"Exactly."

Slur and Hades were discussing on his office room: Hades looked somewhat worried while Slur was serious and her glare didn't admit objections.

"You look tired." Slur pointed out.

"… Sometimes…" He began.

"… Not that debate again…" She muttered with some annoyance as if they had had that discussion more than once by now.

"I sound like a loser dog, you mean to say?" Hades began to get annoyed as well, for once.

"Not exactly but…" She tried to fix the situation because it was turning too tense for her taste.

"… Ah. Whatever. Now's not the time for that. Else we'd be dancing to the enemy's tune." He cut the discussion.

"Fine. And remember: there are competent people over there who can take care of whatever that man comes up with. It was necessary: someone had to put order to this chaotic world. It is thanks to us that the chaos has been prevented in the first place. And, also… It was for the sake of that man as well." Slur reminded him while leaning her hands on the desk.

"I know that." Hades replied.

"You let that "responsibility" hunt you too much."

"Adults must have responsibility. To prove that they are serious." Hades argued back.

"Maybe so. I never understood it."

"No wonder, _Mademoiselle_. You were not supposed to feel any in the first place, were you?"

"I suppose not." She shrugged.

"Oh well. Let's leave it at there."

"You better do so." Slur insisted.

"If you want some advice about it why don't you try asking Mr. Helios about it? Or Mr. XY."

"Hmmm… Maybe so. I would rather speak of that with XY. They can be trusted with this information because they will take no action but they could have useful ideas." Slur muttered.

"Alright."

"I will go there. We shall talk again."

"What about…?"

"Ah yes. You take care of that if you may." She distractedly replied.

"Alright."

Slur exited the room by opening the door and closing it while Hades leant back on his armchair and grumbled.

"… No… There's no way they can figure it out. They couldn't begin to imagine it on the first place. Only 5 of us know that. Well. 6. But seeing that young man's face and feeling his energy… Yes. It was worth it. It was necessary! We had to do it. And yes! We needed to bring some order to this chaotic society. The Cyber CID alone couldn't have hoped to: they are too understaffed. It is thanks to our numbers and potential that we can face these threats." He muttered alone.

He stood up and exited into the corridor to then head into the cafeteria.

"Good afternoon, Mr. President." Dark Man welcomed.

"I'd like a glass of water."

"Natural water?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Roger, sir."

Dark Man picked a pet bottle and a glass and placed them atop the counter: Hades picked the bottle, unsealed it and served some water into the glass: he slowly began to drink it and stopped when there was still about half a glass left: he sighed in relief.

"Ah! I needed some water indeed." He muttered.

"You shouldn't push yourself so much, sir. It's bad for the health." Dark Man advised.

"I know. But I want to prove I am serious with my work. Both here and at the company I cooperate with."

"I think that they should know by now that you are very competent and responsible, no?"

"Responsible, huh…" He muttered.

"Ah… Did I say something bad?"

"N-no. Don't mind it."

"If you say so…"

BANG!

"W-what was that?" Hades gasped.

"S-sounded like it was on the deck!"

"Where's the sentry!"

"P-Pharaoh Man should be the…"

"Contact him!"

"R-roger! Pharaoh Man, did you hear a bang?"

"Huh? A bang…? No…" Pharaoh Man replied.

"… Or were you meditating?" Dark Man sighed and seemed to realize why.

"Lovely! Talk about being RESPONSIBLE indeed!" Hades fumed.

"I, I…!" Pharaoh Man began to argue.

"We'll TALK later! Figure out what was that!"

"R-roger!"

Hades sprinted off and headed up in the elevator: he exited into the deck and saw Pharaoh Man hovering over the deck and scanning the surroundings: Hades rushed down and spotted Tozukana giving him the back on the bow.

"What happened? Where's the culprit?" He asked out of breath as he looked around.

"Huh? What? Culprit? Of what?" Tozukana glanced over her right shoulder, surprised.

"I heard a bang!"

"Oh crap. Then I'm to blame."

"What?"

"I was doing maintenance on the rifle and forgot to put on the safety so I accidentally pulled the trigger…" She admitted.

"Oh by all the… And here I thought it was the enemy!"

"I'm sorry! It was an accident!"

"Fine. An accident is an accident. Next time put on the silencer! My heart's beating like crazy!" Hades growled.

"Y-yeah!" She gulped.

"Hmpf!" Pharaoh Man fumed.

"Ahem, ahem!" Hades scolded.

"Huh! It shall not happen again either!" Pharaoh Man apologized.

"I hope it doesn't!"

"I swear!"

"Back to your post. Before I get further annoyed. And you, Mademoiselle, watch out what you do with that." He ordered as he directed an annoyed glare at her.

"R-roger, _Danna_…"

"Huff!"

Hades walked back towards the ship while grumbling under his breath and stuffing both hands on his pants' pockets.

"Youth nowadays…! How reckless!"

_Well. Speaking of reckless… I think that it was reckless too. That incident which happened on that ship. But since _Mademoiselle _insisted that it was necessary… She has that air that she'll never take "no" for an answer no matter what. She could be a bit more flexible in that aspect: being too rigid isn't good either. _

"What happened?" Dark Man showed up there.

"Miss Sniper shot her toy by accident." He summed up in a line yet he still was annoyed at the scare.

"Ah! Phew. It wasn't the enemy."

"No. Fortunately enough."

"I'm going back to my post."

Hades sat down on one of the boxes on the left side to stare at the bay.

_Wait… Could it be…? No. That man wasn't subtle. That man was the type to be flashy and call for attention. No. That man can't know where we went off to. No. If that man's alive his obsession over his rival should keep him locked in place. Surely would start a cycle of campaigns every a few months to try to wear his opponents down… Discarded. No. Our enemy is someone else. Someone who wishes to know it all about its opponents: and who doesn't care what it takes to stall for time. Saturday at the earliest… What'll happen on Saturday? _

"… Huh? Who's there?"

"What?"

"Eh… I thought someone was there… My imagination, I guess. Too much stress."

Cosmo Man had come out and gasped: Hades looked up but he admitted that maybe he imagined seeing someone so he shrugged.

_Now's not the time to let paranoia hunt us… We must be ready to face the closing in menace… There's little to no time… We must get on the move before they do!_

"Ah yes. President Hades. We did upgrade the security of the shooting range computer: now there are 3 passwords that only I, Freeze Man and Zero know." Cosmo Man reported.

"Wise thinking."

"Thank you."

"… Just in case… Sweep the zone. You never know if something or someone's lurking around the area." He whispered.

Cosmo Man nodded in understanding and began to inspect the deck while Hades looked like he had a hunch about something…

18:37 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huh? The phone… Hello?"

"Are you Kei Yuuki?"

"Huh? Ah… Yes. I am. Who is it?"

"One of your… fans."

"Is this a joke, sir?"

"It's irony."

"Well, sir…"

"Call me… Smith."

"Mr. Smith. Can I do for you?"

"I'd like to ask you something."

Obihiro had been working in the office of the Net Police Cyber CID when his PET rang so he answered to the call: he was surprised that the caller used his old alias and decided to go along with it: he began to get skeptical seeing the caller's behavior.

"How did it feel like?"

"Excuse me, sir?"

"To have so much power on your hands, to be able to decide between life and death…" The caller followed on.

"… I barely remember that." He began to get annoyed.

"Oh?" The caller sounded intrigued.

"I am serious, Mr. Smith. Deadly serious."

"So it'd seem."

"Is that all, sir?"

"No. I've got something else to ask of you." The caller quickly announced.

"What is it now, sir?"

"Did you feel like everyone else was but so much chaff? That they were worthless?"

"… I've got no need to reply to you, Mr. Smith."

"Hmpf. Guess the answer is "yes" in that case."

"Who – are – you?" He questioned again.

"My. Touched a delicate spot, did I? Your "kindness" mask is falling apart and revealing the evil genius you really are? Or is it… Humiliation? Anger at being humiliated?" The caller began to ask.

"Look. I'm a member of…"

"The Cyber CID. I know that."

"Then why bother to call me by that old name? It's no longer valid by now, is it?"

"Because you have it associated to that time's events. Your brain does, at the least."

"And what's your goal by asking me that?"

"My goal? Hmpf… I'm testing you."

"Do you expect me to switch sides or what?" Obihiro skeptically questioned the caller.

"Of course not. I'm not an imbecile."

"Then this whole call is pointless, isn't it?"

"Not really. It allows me to assess you."

"… You give off a bad vibe."

"In what sense?"

"… Forget it. It's something pointless, anyway."

"Hmpf. So it'd seem… Fine."

"Are you done with the show, Mr. Smith? I've got work to do and not time to waste with Freud wannabes." Obihiro challenged.

"_Scherezade Symphony_…"

"Huh? What?"

"I said _Scherezade Symphony_. You should know about that incident."

"I heard of it but I wasn't there."

"I know you weren't there. But don't you find the whole tale a bit odd?"

"Odd? There was a clear culprit: all evidence pointed so. The Homicide Department carried out a detailed scene investigation and wrote their own conclusions."

"Then why would someone pay the ship owners so that they would take out the whole front window of the restaurant, melt it and put a new one when they could've just sliced that fragment where the damage was at and place a new panel on its place? Why would someone pay them to repaint some of the handrails' _outer face_? Outer face, mind you. Something the passengers would never bother to look at. That the glass was melted would mean that there was something to hide. Something compromising." The caller got excited all of a sudden.

"… More conspiracy theorists?" He rolled his eyes and sounded absolutely uninterested.

"Hmpf… Good attempt… But I can feel it… Your nerves… Your sweat… Your panic…"

"Oi, oi. Are you an ability-user or what?"

"Hmpf. Of course not. It's just a form of speaking. There's no such thing as ESP to begin with."

"And what if there was that someone? The case's closed and it's not any of my competency. I'm paid to figure out the stuff I'm told to investigate to begin with. If you want to figure out who that "someone" was then hire a private eye. Maybe you could use Sleeping Kogoro." He shot back.

"Who?"

"Never mind. It's irony, Mr. Smith."

"Hmpf. Fine…"

"Are we done with the chit-chat or are you going to try to pressure me for more info? I'm about to run out of patience too."

"Impatient youth…"

"Well, my bad! Not like I can choose when I become an adult."

"Hmpf. Nice attempt. But you're still too green."

"Isn't it obvious? I never said I pretended to be an expert."

"Fine… But remember… That feeling of power… One day you will realize what it really brings with it… And one day… Maybe you will overcome us, even… Farewell!"

"Us? Overcome?" Obihiro wondered.

He stared at the PET for some seconds, frowning, and then all color left his face all of a sudden.

"By all the…"

"What's wrong?" Enzan came in.

"Eh… Ijuuin – kun! I think we've got trouble."

"What now?"

"I think that Void guy was just talking to me."

"WHAT?" He gasped.

"Yeah. I didn't realize until now but since he said "maybe you will overcome us, even"… And was talking about the feeling of being in control of it all and such…"

"Why would the man bother?" Enzan wondered.

"Why indeed?" Blues wondered next.

"He obviously wasn't expecting me to switch sides, but… I dunno why he's gotten the idea that, in the future, I might get tempted to feel that which I felt before and turn into someone like the man…" He gulped.

"Devil." Blues cursed.

"It's pointless to investigate the number, anyway. Slur finally told us about her trip to Stockholm… And she explained that Void uses a different number each time to contact those 2… So we could search where that number was bought at but that wouldn't lead us to the man. We're stuck until we get anything else." Enzan sighed.

"I see… Ah! He was poking about the _Scherezade Symphony_ as well."

"Devil. And if he finds Kyundai he can coerce him to tell what happened and could use it to threaten us Cyber CID next!"

"We should place that man under custody. Let's try to force them to make something stupid like trying to rob a bank or such and so we'll have an excuse to do so." Blues fumed.

"Let's go talk it with Superintendent Oda ASAP! Be right back, Obihiro, but be on the lookout! You never know!"

Enzan ran off while Obihiro sighed and resumed working on what he was doing before: he spotted a new mail on his inbox and opened it to then gasp and grumble.

"… "If you don't want the mass to know you were the leader of the Net Mafia Gospel then you will cease all attempts to investigate us. You have 24 hours to do so. Starting today at 20:00 PM. You have been warned."… And it's not signed but it's obvious that Void guy sent it. Whatever. I just need to redirect this to Golden Star and they'll check it out. You lack imagination." He grumbled.

He redirected the mail to another email address after adding an explanation and nodded to himself in approval: he headed out of the room and into the corridor: he stopped in front of the coffee vending machine and picked a _cappuccino_ sans caffeine: he hummed a tune as he looked around and spotted a group of 4 officers chatting.

_What guts! First they try to tempt me into becoming their heir and then they threaten me. Let's hope we can get Kyundai into custody or else we're in trouble. But maybe Kyundai won't feel like in the mood to tell them and will go with the official version… Depends. Maybe they could offer him money and he'd spill it out. Sheesh. _

He returned to his post and frowned as he was about to sit down in front of the computer: he looked around and seemed to find something odd in the surroundings: he interacted with the PC and entered his unblocking code: he then accessed some info.

_Someone tried to access it while I was at the corridor! There's someone infiltrated here…! Luckily I locked it! Do you expect a hacker like me to not to take measures to avoid being hacked myself? Phew. We'll have to check security footage to see who did it… _

He sat down and resumed working while trying to focus.

_It's alright. It's just a matter of time before those guys are busted: because they messed up with the wrong people. It's about time you realize that: and if you haven't done yet then you're incredibly stupid and arrogant. Guess this motto is getting repetitive by now. Hmmm… Let's try something else… Show me your guts! I know it's a parody of Captain Falcon but better this than nothing._

"OUCH! TOO HOT!" Meijin yelped.

"I told ya to wait a bit!" Punk sighed.

"Last time I ask you to tweak the temperature!"

"It was _your_ idea, mind ya!" Punk reminded him.

"I know that! Some stupid idea of mine indeed! Grah! Cold water! My tongue's on fire!" Meijin groaned.

"Looks like Meijin – san didn't find the coffee hot enough for this taste insofar…" Obihiro muttered.

"Glub! Glub! Ah! I feel better… Somewhat! It aches! Last time I hire myself as test subject of my weird experiments! One day I'll regret it!"

19:11 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Legato… Any luck tracing that threat mail?"

"None, sir. I am sorry, sir. The trail turned cold in Shanghai."

"Well. Surely Seed sent it because she appeals as being the computer geek out of the 2…"

"I managed to locate Kyundai in Kobe. For the time being nobody seems to have approached the man."

"Did you send that anonymous email?"

"Yeah. He got cocky. As expected. So it's highly probable he'll try to pull it off and be caught. So we can keep him under watch."

"Good."

Legato was reporting to Kuroshiro inside of his _Purgatory_ bedroom as Kuroshiro interacted with a PC.

Today he'd taken out the monk robe and wore a long-sleeved black wool sweater, dark blue jeans, a reddish leather belt, black socks and black sneakers.

He also sported fingerless gloves on his hands as well.

"At least we can try to prevent them figuring out about that. The last thing we needed. Really. We should've thought more about what to do with Kyundai. Maybe we could hypnotize the guy and make him believe the official version. And thus we'd get rid of the problem. It's not the best of ways but… Damn it all. I won't let anyone toy with Netto – kun's pride and reputation!" He cursed, for once.

"I know, sir."

"I also wonder what Spiral was doing some days ago at the old Nebula base… He found a photo of the old man but that alone didn't tell the guy anything, according to XY. Speaking of which… We never figured out who placed those weird &amp; funky machines there, did we?" Kuroshiro asked while apparently reminiscing about that.

"We didn't, sir. We did speculate that it could've been some failed Ameroupe Army experiment. Maybe something to do with ESP or a similar research? Anything that could amount to a new weapon would be worth a research so…" Legato reminded him.

"Ah. Then it makes sense. The experiment failed and since it was a pain on the ass to have to disassemble them to transport them to the junkyard they decided to break them and leave them there to rot away with time: they sure were in a rush to close down that project."

"No wonder, sir. They must've felt extremely disappointed and like all of it was a waste of time, money, resources and staff. And red tape." Legato shrugged.

"Red tape…? Ah! You mean secrecy. Yeah. Surely."

"The news that they expect to be ready by Saturday makes one think they're betting it all on that day."

"Sure. Typical."

"But we still don't know what it is."

"No. That's their trump card. I'm sure that not even those 2 have the slightest idea of what is. I'm sure the guy must be doing it all on his own and without relying on anyone."

"Hmm… Something to do with "Dark", maybe?"

"Because of the "Shadow" in "Shadow Nova"? Could be but it could be a red herring too."

"Yes. That could be the case indeed. Huh? A call from Zero… What's up, Zero?"

"No big deal. It's just that Serenade has come with Forte and are asking to be let inside. They're the real ones but since Boss isn't here then I'm not sure…" Zero told them.

"Ask President Hades."

"Ah, of course. Sorry for the bother. Later."

"Maybe it's better for the guy that Slur – sama isn't here. Slur – sama is somewhat contradictory on that aspect. She claims Colonel is an idiot to hate Forte over what happened to Serenade but she also displays enmity in front of him." Kuroshiro muttered.

"Yes, sir. A sad aspect."

"Sad? Nah. More like contradictory."

"I'll go talk with them."

"Yeah. Go ahead."

Legato dematerialized while Kuroshiro kept on working.

"I'm trying to see if there's a way to properly optimize Andy's Ryuusei Form energy usage… Training insofar has made it possible for them to be able to properly move right after usage but that's just bearing with the tiredness. If we get into a prolonged battle then that might bring upon a weakness." He muttered aloud.

"… I see. So it's a central wing and then there's the rooms." Forte could be heard commenting.

"Yeah. The only way in or out through the Cyber World is from where you came in. It was built like this to make intrusion harder." Legato replied.

"Do many wannabes ever reach that firewall?"

"Almost none. But just in case we've got it armed."

"Deterrence, I take it." Serenade guessed.

"Yeah. That's it."

"By the way… Do we know anything new about those rascals? What are they up to or…?" Forte asked.

"We know they intend to do something on Saturday. And we don't know the what. But try to keep it to yourselves. We don't want them to realize we know that much."

"Gotcha."

"Hum." Serenade sounded pensive.

"... Ah! Legato – san! Trouble!"

"Akemi? What trouble?"

"Huff, huff… A threat has been issued against the DNN! They say that we cease calling them terrorists and instead "saviors" or else they're going to bomb the station!" Akemi rushed in to report to him.

"By all the damned…!" Legato cursed.

"Bad news too. The college we're in has been told to take down all board messages complaining about those guys and switch with others in which we admit they'll save us from sin!" Victor rushed in next.

"Damn it. They're bored and want to something to take away attention so they came up with these." Legato growled.

"Hmpf. Cowards…" Serenade fumed.

"So I can go and cut them up?" Tom asked from close by as he toyed with a knife by tossing it into the air and catching it back.

"Yeah. Of course. If they bother to use Navis, that is."

"… Target acquired… Locking on…" Qong drily muttered over Tom's radio as if he was practicing.

"I heard the fuss." Sandra joined them.

"They seem to be in a rush, no?" Ikada commented.

"Heh! Let 'em come: I'll take 'em down with a few shots!" Tozukana bragged.

"Cha stay put." Lily muttered.

"More bad news. Now's the Diet!" Beta X dashed in.

"Yeah. It's all over the TV!" Zarashe added.

"They sure have FREE TIME!" Legato ironically growled and was starting to get pissed off for real.

"Maybe they're bluffs to trigger hysteria?" Zero suggested.

"Seeing what the lot can do…" Hades agreed on it.

"It barely comes off as a surprise by now." Kuroshiro added.

"Shah, shah, shah! Not that robot again." Needle Man cursed.

"_Marchando_! Let's melt them down!" Burner Man snickered.

"And record their downfall for all eternity!" Video Man chuckled.

"Calm down, all of you!" Legato tried to put some order.

Silence ensued and Legato cleared his throat.

"We're going to mobilize. Victor and Tom: college."

"Roger."

"Lily and Akemi: the DNN."

"Roger."

"Beta X and Sandra: the Diet."

"Roger."

"The Operators: remain here. If there's a real need for action then… You'll get mobilized as well, Tozukana and Qong." He told the others.

"Sheesh. Not fair." Tozukana complained.

"… Roger…" Qong drily acknowledged.

"Freeze Man, Cosmo Man and Shade Man… Dark Man too. Reinforce security in case they try to come at us. Pharaoh Man… Scan the surroundings and, if possible, try to avoid too many "meditations". Our pride is at stake."

"If there is the need to defend pride then I shall do so!"

"Maybe we need to pit a Fierce Deity against them." Forte suggested.

"Hmpf. Yeah. Go ahead. For victory!" Legato encouraged.


	18. Chapter 18: A long dawn

**Chapter 18: A long dawn**

02:44 AM (Japan Time), Friday October the 25th…

"… This is Lily, reporting from the DNN… Nothing."

"Akemi here. There's nothing odd on my sector either."

"Fine. I'm sure the threats will come into effect as a last distraction before tomorrow. Maybe they'll try to cause panic through the Cyber World so have your cache Folders ready."

"OK!"

"Ah. True. There'll be a backup in the rear: I wouldn't be surprised if they toss a lot of strength into the front to create a distraction and then they sneak in from the rear."

"Typical."

"Yeah. Sure thing."

Legato was giving out instructions to Akemi and Lily as they kept watch of the DNN's Cyber World: a lot of Security Navis were patrolling the area as well and tension could be felt on the air: both girls weren't too surprised at the suggestion of a two-front attack either.

"Leave the line open the whole time."

"Roger."

"I'm going to check on the others. Later."

"Later."

"… Huh? What! No way! This number of signatures…!" A Security Navi gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm detecting a ton of enemy signatures heading for the firewall… There must be about 50 of them!"

"50!" They all gasped.

"They're about to intrude! Everyone, bring out your best Chips!"

"Roger!"

"Let them come: we'll bust them with our PAs." Lily muttered.

"U~RA~H!" Several voices roared.

BOOM!

There was an explosion and the firewall was broken: the Navis rushed in while shooting Cannons and Vulcan Battle Chips: the Security Navis began to counter with the same Chips.

"Mugen Vulcan!"

"Giga Cannon!"

"Greatest Bomb!"

"Ugra~h!"

"They're WEAK! Their max HP is 100 points! Mass-made hence why the come in a crowd: they hope to win by numbers alone!" Lily encouraged as she and Akemi blew up several of them.

"Alright!"

"Dream Sword!"

"Warning! There's another group that's intruded through the rear! We lack enough…!" A Security Navi rushed in.

There was an explosion and some screams of agony coming from the new attacker group: the Navi stopped, surprised.

"Oh yeah! Darkness Overload!"

"Who's that?" Someone wondered.

"Freddie." Akemi improvised.

"Your boyfriend?"

"Well… Yeah. Got a problem with it?"

"No, the guy seems to be quite the powerhouse… I'm sure that he alone can handle the rear…" Another of the Navis muttered.

"How's it going?" Legato asked.

"We're managing without too much trouble. They obviously weren't expecting us." Lily shrugged.

"It's but a distraction: no wonder it looks crappy. To stall for time. That's all they care for now."

"Good point."

"Zeta Fumikomi!"

"Mugrah!"

"Have a combo! Grass Stage, Tornado!"

"Mugroh!"

"About 40 of them have been wiped out… We can handle the remaining few ones! Let's go!"

"YA~H!"

"U~RA~H!"

A clash of Swords, Wide Swords and Long Swords ensued while Akemi rushed to the rear: Forte alone was handling the enemies without having to sweat even.

"Had enough? No? Here's some hard encore, man! Heh! Hell's Rolling!"

"Mugrah!"

He formed his two purple indented wheels that ran across the ground and hit two Heel Navis head-on thus kicking them to the sides and having them hit the ground with force: they collapsed and a group of about 8 of them rushed for him.

"Huff. Hell's Buster!"

"Mugra-ga-ga-gah!"

The multiple rounds hitting random spots on the ground made the Navis flinch and inflicted wounds: Forte drew his Dark Arm Blades and rushed in to deliver close-range attacks that heavily wounded them: he quickly delivered a kick with the right foot to another one that was jumping in from the right and thus he hit the torso and intercepted the attack: he formed a sphere of energy on his left hand and shot it at another attacker coming from the SW: he jumped into the air and landed a kick into the head of another Navi to made the guy fall into the ground: he hummed a tune as he spotted another 3 running for him so he simply loaded up energy and shot a Darkness Overload as he twisted his body towards the right so that the beam would hit each one in order: they collapsed.

"That's all? You were right, these guys are CHEAP." Forte wasn't too surprised as he scratched the back of his head.

"Just in case… If someone asks… Say you're Freddie and you're my boyfriend. Your name is associated to your alter ego and doesn't bring good memories." Akemi whispered to him.

"Alright. Gotcha." He whispered back.

"Phew! It'd seem it's calmed down over here. Is there anything else on the radars?" One of the Security Navis asked.

"Nothing…"

"Or so you thought! U~RA~H!"

"What!"

There was an explosion in the ground and a hole opened: more Heel Navis began to jump in through the hole and these ones carried Hell's Burner Battle Chips with them.

"We're the Burn Brigade! We burn it all! We're going to make you experience Hell!" They claimed.

"Huff. There's no end to them?" Forte complained.

"It doesn't matter. Let's use this! Battle Chip, Tsunami!" Lily decided on a course of action.

A _tsunami_ formed and loomed over the Heel Navis who panicked and tried to run away only to be washed by the crashing wave: it flooded the tunnel too and there were some growls and groans: some attempted to turn on their Hell's Burner Battle Chips but failed.

"And now… Thunder Doll!"

The electrical blast merged with the water and electrocuted the enemies: there was another explosion and this time they came from a hole in the ceiling while wielding chainsaws.

"Nyah, hah, hah! We're the Slaughter Brigade! We're gonna slaughter ya all! Into pieces!"

"How original." Akemi fumed.

"Let's beat them too! Earth… Breaker!"

"What! Mugrah!"

Forte's attack took out about 15 of them and the others dispersed while brandishing their chainsaws around the place: the Navis began to try to put distance to avoid being cut up by those.

"No problem. Boomerang to stun them, and then Sonic Wave!" Akemi decided.

"OK!"

"Mugroh! Grawh!"

The combo made some of the enemies flinch while the Sonic Wave's power was more than enough to delete them: Forte suddenly formed a Neo Variable Sword and swung it to form a Sonic Boom: it sliced a group of 8 and deleted them as well.

"Huh? How?" He wondered.

"Eh… Remember… Get Ability Program…" Akemi whispered.

"Ah! I'd forgotten… That's what made me unique, true." He remembered.

"Try to behave like you know how it's used." Akemi suggested.

"Yeah. I don't want to call for attention either. Sonic Boom!"

A group of 6 closing in got deleted as well while Akemi used a Fumikomizan Battle Chip to quickly step forward and slash an incoming enemy to beat them as well: she spotted Lily forming a sniper rifle, taking aim, and piercing 3 enemies' heads as they were coming towards her in a row: they all were deleted and she calmly lowered the rifle.

"There should be about… 5 of them left!"

"5? Must be those guys. Sonic Boom!" Forte spotted.

"U~RA~H!"

"… Phew. Looks like it's really over this time." Lily sighed in relief as she looked around.

"Yeah. Guess they're going to send the remainder of their forces to the other 2 locations… So you should tell the others to get ready for some action…" Akemi muttered.

"Huff! That was too tense! Good job, you 3. I'm going to check on the others." Legato congratulated.

"Man! I can finally go and nap: I'm tired from lack of rest. Heh! See ya, Akemi – chan!" He added to keep up the game.

"Sure, sure."

Forte walked away while whistling something: Lily directed a snicker at Akemi and she rolled her eyes.

"Hey. It's just pretending."

"I know. But that name feels funny."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." She didn't bother with that.

"Oh well. Guess I'm gonna help with some cleansing. Joanne – chan will still be nappin' for some hours, anyway. The others will take care of the remaining guys." She stretched.

"OK. Let's go."

03:58 AM (Japan Time)…

"… How's it over there, Victor and Tom?"

"This is Tom… Nothing's happened insofar."

"Yes. All is tense but nothing is out of place… yet."

"Fine. You're allowed to destroy them all. They're mass-produced small fry, suicide corps."

"OK… They'll get to know my knife arts… Hmpf…"

"Alright. I better use some combos on them too."

"There's a backup stationed in the rear of the zone too. They'll take care of the rear squad."

"OK."

Tom and Victor were keeping watch in the college boards' Cyber World along with several Security Navis: Legato contacted them and Tom calmly glanced at a scout knife he had on his right hand: he looked at how his face reflected on the clean blade and made a smug smile: Victor calmly shrugged.

BOOM!

"Metto~!"

"A Mettool swarm! There must be about 100 of them!"

"Shit. Mettols? My knives aren't effective!" Tom cursed.

"Guess it's the time for combos. Prism, Forest Bomb 3!"

Victor threw the Prism into the ground as the Mettool horde rushed towards his location: he flung the Forest Bomb 3 at the Prism and its power was amplified and reflected through the Prism thus deleting several Mettools at the same time: Tom jumped into the air and formed several knives which he threw at the Mettools: he managed to hit some of them head-on but others hid beneath their hard-hats: he grumbled and formed Mini – Bombs which he threw at the ground at random.

"Fuck."

The other Navis were trying to use Cannons and Vulcans but several of the Mettools began to jump and latch to them to start hitting them with their pickaxes: others began to hit the ground produce shock waves.

"We're getting overwhelmed!" Tom complained.

Something suddenly reflected the Mettols' shock waves back at them and deleted some of them on a row: a familiar sphere of light hovered in the air and deleted the Viruses on its path: it was followed by some bursts of green energy that landed around the area and exploded creating a small shockwave around them: Serenade stepped in his graceful manner and simply reflected the attacks by the Mettools.

"I coming here was a wise idea indeed." He muttered.

"Good!" Tom sighed in relief.

"It's not over yet!" Victor warned.

"Yeah, I know!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Burn, burn and BURN!" A familiar voice yelled.

"Huh? Who's there?"

"The Flame Emperor!"

"How lame."

"Wha~t? I'll burn ya to cinders!"

Fire Man suddenly came in while gloating but the others were hardly surprised: Fire Man chuckled as he glanced left and right as if deciding who he would face first.

"You, the weird-looking guy! You must be WEAK! I'll turn you into CINDERS!" He laughed.

"Try it." Serenade challenged.

"Double Fire Arm! I win!"

"Wrong. Be defeated by your own foolishness."

Serenade blocked the attack and formed the counter-attacking Sonic Boom that hit Fire Man and knocked him into the ground, face-up, from the hit: he growled and managed to get back on his feet and roared as his body was surrounded by flames.

"GIMME MORE POWE~R!" He roared.

"Fool. You are drowning on it." Serenade dully scolded.

"Shaddup! Double Fire Arm! BURN UP!"

"Hmpf. So be it. Holy Shock!"

"UGRA~H!"

The multiple attacks that hit several spots of Fire Man's body opened wounds on it combined with the Sonic Boom generated by the counter: it sliced Fire Man's body in half and he was deleted as he roared: Serenade sighed, saddened, and looked elsewhere.

"At least I put you out of that never-ending spiral. Desire for further power is dangerous… Because you never have enough of it. You want more and more and more…" Serenade warned the other two.

"Y-yeah. Good point." Tom nervously admitted.

"There about 15 of them left. The Security Navis can handle them. But I'll go check the rear just in case." Victor announced.

"Do so. I need a little while to calm down. That was too sad." Serenade sighed.

"Eh…" A Security Navi timidly called out.

"What?" Tom asked.

"The sensors detect some odd vibrations underground… And they're getting closer…"

"A tunnel again? Fine. Let's prepare an ambush." Tom wasn't too surprised by the news.

BOOM!

No sooner had he said that that an explosion happened in the middle of the section and a hole opened: Curzdos flew out and Tom cursed under his breath.

"Curzdos of all things! I HATE these!" He growled.

"No wonder. They ARE annoying." Serenade agreed with him and sighed.

"More like a first-timer killer!" Tom grumbled.

"Use Met Guard to shield from the attack and then counter with something fast like a sword or a Vulcan. It is the best strategy to use against them." Serenade advised.

"Roger! Come, ugly rascals! I'm so gonna turn you into little pieces here and now!" Tom challenged.

"U~RA~H!"

BOOM!

"They've come from the rear! Heel Navis! We'll handle somewhat: the Curzdos go first! And try to seal the tunnel too!" Victor called out over the radio over the shooting in the background.

"They're being relentless, damn it."

"Ice Stage!"

The ground turned into Ice Stage save for the spots where Tom and Serenade and the Security Navis were at: the ice froze the tunnel's walls and Freeze Man dropped in.

"Freeze Man! Good! Try to freeze the tunnel!"

"Easy. It may look stupid but… Freezing Beam!"

Freeze Man loaded energy on his hands and shot a bluish beam of energy at the tunnel which began to condense the air on its wake: he then formed a rush of water that came in and began to freeze and solidify as the temperature inside of the tunnel dropped until it was solid frozen.

"Good!"

He drew his blade and sliced a Curzdo as it was about to attack him: he rushed for the rear to support Victor as Tom and Serenade handled the rest of the Curzdos somewhat: their numbers began to dwindle.

"Don't lower the guard. They could come from above too!" Legato warned over the radio.

"Roger that!" Tom replied.

"U~RA~H!"

"Wrong! A new wave's come from the rear! And these ones are the annoying lot with Barrier Battle Chips activated! Devil!" Victor grumbled.

"Don't worry. Here: Super North Wind! Combined with my power it'll make them unable to advance. See!" Freeze Man announced.

"True! The wind's too strong for them!"

"Icicle Fall! Mountain Spear! Ice Tower!"

"Ugra~h!"

"Huff, huff! H-how many of these left?" Tom panted.

"Hah! This was the last one." Serenade defeated the last one.

"S-shit. Hope there's not something worse than these." Tom cursed aloud while trying to regain his strength.

"There is always something worse." Serenade grimly muttered.

"U~RA~H!"

"More keep on coming through the rear! Watch out for the front because they could be a distraction!" Freeze Man warned.

"U~RA~H!"

"Fucking shit. You were right, man!"

"Huff. Wonderful!"

A new wave came in from the front indeed and they brought axes with them: they began to swing them as the Navis tried to mark distance with them: however, they stepped into the iced floor and began to slide across it in all directions having lost control of themselves: Tom easily began to jump from one to another to land on their backs and slice their necks from the front with his knives: sometimes he had enough with stabbing a knife through a Heel Navi from behind to make it pierce across the body: he spotted 6 of them rushing for him and merely formed 12 knives in the air which he began to pick and throw: they all met their intended targets which were the neck and the core: the Heel Navis were defeated while Serenade countered with Sonic Booms and his Holy Shock: he also used his sphere of light to attack the ones that were too far away.

"We dispatched them all… Huff!" Victor reported.

"HUFF! It seems to have calmed down: how about there?" Freeze Man asked.

"I think we're almost done too… Die!"

"Return to your maker. Holy Shock!"

The invaders were all defeated and everyone sighed in relief: Serenade now looked deadly serious and his glare could kill, even.

"I need some air. I will come back soon to help with the repairs. Excuse me." He announced as he walked away.

"No wonder." Freeze Man muttered.

"Huff, huff… Man. I'm so beaten. Shit." Tom cursed.

"Don't tell me, my fellow… I'm WORN OUT!" Victor groaned.

"Need more exercise, heck."

"We will discuss that later. Just rest. I will start to oversee the scale of the damage in the meanwhile." Freeze Man told them.

"S-sure… My bad, man."

"Huff… How I envy Agoras – kun, there napping on the bed! I wanna nap!"

05:45 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Going by the reports from the other two locations… They will first come from the front, then the rear and will open a tunnel to send further units in."

"We've got a backup in the rear but if things look awry then we can expect reinforcements from the HQ."

"Alright."

"They're small fry so defeating them isn't a problem: the numbers will be a problem. Don't lose your cool."

"Good point."

Beta X and Sandra were talking with some Security Navis having a medal as if to signal they were higher ranker than the others while looking at a 3D display of the Cyber World they were in.

"Hard to believe they plan on blowing their way in through 3 firewalls each thicker than the other." One of them muttered.

"Sounds like they brought explosives designed to exploit a flaw in firewall architecture… Our pals have begun to analyze how they got in and these are their preliminary conclusions…" Beta X told them.

"I guess Drill Man must be burning with envy that they're not employing his services as a tunnel-digger." Sandra commented with some irony and while looking unimpressed.

"Yeah. Sure." Beta X shrugged.

"We're detecting signatures converging into the firewalls from the front: there seem to be about… 200 of them!" A common Security Navi reported all of a sudden.

"They've come!" Beta X muttered.

"Everyone: into battle positions! This isn't a drill!" One called out.

"Roger!"

"We won't let these bastards get away with it! We'll protect the Diet no matter what it takes! They'll come with numbers but we've got skill!"

"Roger!"

A series of explosions rang out followed by alarms.

"First firewall: non-functional! They're losing some due to the mine field between it and the second one but they advance nevertheless!" One of the Navis reported.

"Devil. They're really suicide corps. Load your weapons!" Another captain grumbled.

Another series of explosions rang out and the alarms increased: the Navis loaded up Mega Cannons and got ready to shoot while a forward row having Long Blades and Wide Blades plus Met Guards stood at the front: the tension was max.

"Second firewall is down: the enemy keeps on losing numbers due to the mines but advances without caring for it! Third firewall will soon fall: get ready to shoot! Analysis show they've got no barriers. One shot and they're down. Careful with them: they compensate lack of attack and defense with speed! They cover 3 meters in a second! There's a 15 meter gap between the firewall and the forward row: it'll take them 5 seconds to reach you. Shoot as many as you can." The analyst instructed.

"How many have they lost?"

"50 insofar."

"They've lost a fourth of their strength. But we mustn't get confident either: they could be paving the way for reinforcements to freely rush in next… Prepare the last defense line!" One captain commanded.

"U~RA~H!"

The third firewall was blown up and the Heel Navis rushed in but the ground beneath them suddenly vanished to reveal a pit to a lower stage filled with Magma Panels: the first two rows fell feet in and were deleted upon hitting the Magma Panels.

"Wow." Beta X and Sandra whistled in surprise.

The third row tried to jump over but the pit was too wide for them and they fell after the long-range unit began to shoot at them: the remaining rows stopped but the forward most one was taken down by long-range firing: the enemies howled and quickly drew Vulcans and Cannons but their attacks were bounced back by the shields.

"Enemy has lost another 50 units insofar!"

"Hum. We've managed to cut their numbers down but let's not get confident…" One captain muttered.

"U~RA~H!"

"Use Panel Return!" A gruff voice ordered.

"And make way for the great me!" Another added.

"Careful! Get ready for close-quarters fight!"

Panel Return was used to rebuild the floor and cover the pit so the Heel Navis rushed in: the forward most squad rushed to their encounter and quickly swung their blades or thrust them forward before they were able to begin attacking: two rows fell like that while the rear ones began to be bombarded by bomb-class Battle Chips: another two rows fell while the unseen "bosses" grumbled outside the firewall.

"40 down!"

"They've still got a lot of them. Activate the Float Shoes! Sand Stage and Tornado combo!"

"Roger!"

The forward most row drew the Tornado Battle Chip as the ground turned into a Sand Stage to slow down the enemies' movements: they all got hit by the tornadoes and thus yet another row got defeated: the remaining 5 ones were running towards them but the ground quickly became Poison Panels and the "Poison Anubis" dropped down followed by several replicas: the double combo quickly eroded their HP and deleted them.

"I can't believe it!" One of the "bosses" growled.

"Sheesh. As expected of National-Class Security…!"

"How about you show up? I'll be your foe!" Beta X stepped forward and challenged them.

"Me too!"

"Hah! Woman! You've come to die, haven't you? Fine! I'll blow you up!"

"I'll crush you, you little flying insect!"

The "bosses" turned out to be Bomber Man and Stone Man: Sandra snapped her right hand's fingers and a ring of Curzdos formed surrounding them: both gasped.

"This is between you two and us." She announced.

"Devil. We lack means to properly fight those! Our own Viruses used against us!" Bomber Man grumbled.

"Who cares? Stone Fall! Laser!"

"Yeah! Eat bombs!"

"Fire Style! Flamethrower!"

"Grass Stage, Mad Spice and Tornado!"

Beta X's armor glowed and some of it turned red as he dashed into the air and propelled forward: he drew his buster weapon (which had three small wings popping out from the top and the sides of it) and shot a stream of flames at the incoming bombs: they blew up and Bomber Man shielded from the explosion: Sandra, on the meanwhile, formed a Grass Stage and shot the "Mad Spices" to stun and confuse Stone Man: she shot a tornado and Stone Man recoiled: Sandra easily judged where the rocks would fall at given their shadows and used a _kawarimi_ to dodge the laser: Stone Man growled while Bomber Man began to kick more bombs away.

"Die, you bug!"

"Bug? Me? Speak for yourself. Didn't Konami sue you already?"

"Wha~t? Damned bug!"

"Die, woman!"

"You die, ugly macho." She dully countered.

"Laser!"

"Slow. My turn. Burning Body!"

"Ugroh!"

"Grass Stage so the power doubles."

"Damn it!"

"Warning! A tunnel has opened in the back section! 100 units are rushing out of it!"

"Fine. So I finally get to shine. Come! Hah! Hrah! Hyah!"

"Ugrah!"

"Wow. That man moves so fast…!"

"And what sword skill…!"

"That's Burai, right?" Beta X asked Legato over the radio.

"Yeah. How's it going?"

"Steadily. Here, ugly macho. Ice Stage, Plasma Ball!" Sandra replied.

"Gruoh!"

"Sanctuary, Holy Dream! Be gone!"

"GRA~H!"

Sandra pulled a first combo to paralyze Stone Man on place and then shot the Holy Dream that used the power of all the Sanctuary Panels: the multiple blasts pierced through Stone Man and deleted him while Beta X had switched to Elec Style and electrified Bomber Man to paralyze him: he switched to Ice Style and shot ice javelins that plunged into the body: he returned to normal style and loaded an attack.

"Charge… SHOT!"

"MUGRO~H!"

The white blast pierced through Bomber Man and deleted him as well: they then spotted how Burai was fighting a gigantic Heel Navi: he'd managed to cut off its arms and was now jumping around it before jumping into the air and landing atop the head to plunge his blade into it: the Navi howled was deleted so Burai landed on the ground.

"Enemies: defeated. Guess that's it for this long dawn." Burai announced as he lowered the blade.

"So it'd seem. I guess they thought that just breaking through this level of defense would be enough of a feat. It'll be all over the news too and it might trigger a "firewall race" to see which company can produce better and stronger firewalls." Legato guessed with a sigh.

"Hmpf. Guess that." Sandra shrugged.

"We should all go rest and be fresh for whatever's coming next. Let's firstly help patch up some damage, though."

"Agreed."

"Although… There isn't that much damage, really. Because we managed to beat most of them before they could step in…" Beta X muttered as he looked around.

"Good point. But let's help redo the outer perimeter ground and retrieve any mines that haven't detonated." Burai suggested.

"You did a good job taking out these brutes." One of the captains congratulated them.

"Thanks. But you guys were far more impressive."

"We simply though of adding real warfare tactics." Another shrugged.

"Hmpf. How fitting. Warfare shoots back at them…" Burai snickered.

"Guess that. Guys will be guys. Let's patch up and go nap."

08:17 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Huh? Who goes there?"

"White flag! I come to speak!"

"Fine. I'll listen."

"I bring a challenge!"

"From Void?"

"Indeed!"

"Say it."

"Heh!"

A silver-colored Heel Navi waving a white flag approached Golden Star's firewall where Zero was keeping watch: he lowered his sword and turned it off to then cross his arms to listen to what the guy had come to say: the guy produced a golden-colored small box with an LCD display close to the top of the front face and a silver round object in the center that seemed to be the lock.

"This box has the data on where you need to go. But! It won't open until tomorrow at 6AM, Japan Time! Any attempts to tamper with the clock or the box will result on its self-destruct." He announced.

"What guarantee do we have that it isn't a bomb?" Zero questioned with obvious skepticism.

"I knew ya would ask that." The guy sneered.

"Oh yeah?" He wasn't too surprised.

"Lord Void wants to settle it with you lot once and for all. So he wants that Slur, that XY, that Kuroban and your ace guys to come! Just the 5 of them: no – one else! Any attempts to loophole that will result in _tragic_ consequences! Mind ya: _tragic_! Nyah, hah, hah." The guy sneered next.

"And what if. You still don't say anything that guarantees to us that this ain't a damned bomb." Zero fumed.

"Heh! Fine. Do as you want. Maybe you'll regret it. That's all I had to say so I'm leaving. And I don't know where Lord Void is at so it's pointless to catch me in the first place! I'm a spokesman! I've got rights! Have at ya!"

The Heel Navi ran off at top speed while Zero shrugged and looked at the box the guy had left behind: Slur silently landed to his right and looked at it while folding her arms: she seemed to be deciding what to do with it in the first place.

"Zero. Prepare an isolated stone-made room. We will leave it there and watch it through a camera. If it really _is_ a bomb then the room will be damaged but no harm will come to any of us." She decided.

"OK. Will ready that ASAP."

"Try not to come too close or touch it either. It may be rigged to blow up when anyone tries to touch it too."

"Gotcha. I'll just warp it into the room. I'll go ready it. I only need about 3 minutes."

"Good. I will keep watch of this. Go."

"Aye, aye!"

Zero warped away while Slur calmly looked at the box: she closed her eyes and extended her hands as if try to examine it from afar using her abilities: she opened them again and looked annoyed.

"It is coated on a material that reflects IR and X-Ray. And sound waves as well. So there is no way of seeing what is inside."

"Another reason to quarantine it." Hades commented.

"Indeed."

"What do tell the Prince and Mr. XY?"

"We will admit that we have this. But that we must take it with a grain of salt. Let us tell them and only them. The Net Police is busy enough inspecting the scenes of this dawn's attacks." Slur decided after thinking about it.

"Alright. But I think that _Noir_ – kun should be told, no? If it really involves Kage – kun and Mr. Andy…"

"Yes. Of course." She agreed on it.

"Done. Warping the box into the room now. I didn't build any doors yet for added safety. Walls are 75cm thick concrete. If we assume that thing is a bomb and consumes its own mass to explode then…"

"That thickness should suffice."

"Yeah. Do I warp it?"

"Do it."

"Roger. Warping."

The box began to break away to be transported but there was a buzz and it reformed: Zero cursed under his breath.

"The damned frigging… This is a bomb, alright!"

"Or maybe not and it is a red herring to make us believe that. It may resist usual warps. But not _mine_." She calmly replied.

"Ah! Good point."

Slur swung her right hand and the purple portal formed underneath the box: it fell inside and there was a soft sound.

"Good. It's into the room."

"You need not bother to monitor it the whole time. Focus on the information gathering, as usual, and check it out when there is less than 5 minutes before the deadline. Those little ones you employ do not know of this, right?"

"My assistants? No. They're busy with other jobs I tasked them with: and will you please stop being so antagonistic with them? They help me out a lot. And having them be mindless assistants sounds like they're slaves and not real assistants." Zero sighed.

"I agree with Mr. Zero. _Mademoiselle_."

"Hmpf. Fine!" She fumed.

"Now, now. _Mademoiselle_…" Hades tried to calm her down.

"I need a change of airs." She brusquely replied.

She warped away and both Zero and Hades sighed.

"Why is Boss so stubborn when it comes to that? Man."

"I wish I knew, too." Hades admitted with a sigh.

"Anyway. I'll resume my work."

"Yes, of course."

"Hey. Can we get in?"

"Ah. It's you guys. Welcome back."

The 6 defenders came back while looking pretty tired and beaten up: Zero opened the entrance and they came in.

"Staying awake for over 24 hours is what really beats you." Beta X yawned and stretched.

"I've trained myself to be alert at any time but… Guess I need more training… And to redo my technique!" Tom groaned.

"Let's hope no – one's shattered anything." Lily sighed and seemed to foresee trouble involving her Operator.

"Yeah. I can see it coming. That they did something stupid while we weren't around. Really. They feel like elementary school brats instead of adults." Sandra complained.

"Talk about misfortune." Akemi muttered.

"Or lack of luck." Victor added.

"Yo. Welcome back." Burner Man greeted.

"Shah, shah, shah! Good job out there." Needle Man congratulated.

"You gave them a run for their recycled hides!" Video Man grinned.

"Huh? And Freeze Man?" Zero asked.

"Stayed behind to help with the repairs."

"Ah. Alright. The others?"

"Forte and Serenade went back to Dr. Cossack's place."

"Burai said he'd go nap as well."

"Alright. Good work, you guys. Take a good rest."

"Hmm… I still think there'll be more today." Alex muttered.

"You'd better not say that. It calls for trouble." Cosmo Man sighed.

"Yes. Let's hope they've had enough for today." Shade Man added.

"Sorry."

"Don't mind it." Zero assured him.

"Thanks. I need some air too. Later."

"Hum, hum. I feel it on the air…" Dark Man muttered.

"That the end is close?" Pharaoh Man asked.

"Indeed."

"Yes. Everything seems to point to that." Hades affirmed.

"Heh! News! I found a gang of them that was about to sneak into the Net Police HQ!" Napalm Man rushed in.

"Really?" Legato asked as he warped in.

"Yeah! I helped Punk and Blues to fight them back. They were suicide corps too: they charged at us with numbers!" He explained.

"So they hoped to find the strong guys gone but they were there and ready for battle. As expected of _ani – ue – sama_." Legato grinned and rubbed his chin with the right hand, amused.

"Yeah. Guess that." Kuroshiro calmly commented.

"And now… The crash-trash-smash party begins! Oh yeah!"

"The… what?" Everyone else asked.

"Not Alfred again…" Legato groaned.

"Heh, heh! Ya never know! I'm off: I've got a training match with Gorilla Man right away! Later!"

"You mean Guts Man and…! Oh man. That guy's too hyperactive." Legato sighed as Napalm Man ran off.

"Better that than be depressed." Kuroshiro didn't seem to care.

"So… Tomorrow. At last." Legato muttered as if to switch topics.

"Yeah. We'll know who've been facing insofar and what they've got up to their sleeves… Some trump card… But it'll be meaningless in front of our combined power… One man's arrogance can't defeat several ones' unity and bonds… Just you wait, you sneaky bastard… I won't let you get away with it… History shall judge. And you'll be sentenced… to oblivion and to condemnation!" Kuroshiro icily muttered.

_If it's my Andy – kun then he'll settle it with those guys in a breeze… Go bust 'em! Heh!_ Legato snickered.

"By the way… Legato… Burai said he wants to train with you one of these days so you better polish your skills…" Beta X told him.

"Really? Good. I need someone expert at swords: else I can't have enough thrill. Guess I inherited that from _ani-ue-sama_."

"Guess that. Maybe I did think it do for a morale booster." Kuroshiro seemed to be trying to recall why he'd programmed Legato to behave like that.

"Oh yeah. And Guts Man tried to come help us but thought it'd begin at 9:09 AM. Dunno why. Maybe it's Alfred's nonsense." Victor shrugged.

"Guess he wants his screen-time back." Video Man laughed.

_Like it matters by now… We're at the threshold of the final battle!_


	19. Chapter 19: Shapeless

**Chapter 19: Shapeless**

05:57 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 29th…

"… Boss? Less than 3 minutes until it opens. Or explodes."

"Alright. I am coming there to watch. Here I am. Let us see."

"Yeah. 3 minutes and 11 seconds left."

"Hum."

"… 2 minutes and 58 seconds."

Zero called Slur over to the control room of the super-computer as he observed feed from a camera looking at the mysterious box that envoy of "Void" had left behind the previous day: both were calm and looked on as the time on the front LCD screen ticked down.

"Nothing else happened during yesterday. Guess that was it, the last desperate stalling. Or maybe it was planned from the start and the attempted bomb attack was a red herring." He commented.

"Could be. 2 minutes 22 seconds."

"Are all actors ready?"

"Of course."

"Alright. 1 minute 56 seconds."

They remained quiet and tense as the countdown entered the last 60 seconds phase: it soon ticked down to the last 10 seconds and Zero seemed to feel the tension: Slur was unfazed, as usual.

"… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Time!"

There was a loud beep sound and the box actually opened to reveal a holographic projector built inside and which displayed some XYZ coordinates and the text "7:00 AM" below them.

"Figure out where that is at. I am going to warn the others."

"Roger, Boss. So we're finally going there… To the last battle…!"

06:58 AM (Japan Time)…

"… How fitting."

"Why do you say that, Kage?"

"Because, Slur – sama… The name printed on that plaque…"

"Name? Ah. "Ame no ukihashi"… Is that not a given name? It is written in _katakana_."

"I guess it's to give that impression but it actually means "Heaven's Floating Bridge"… It's taken from Japanese mythology. Two Gods stood on it as they completed the land."

"So it means that they are a God that can shape the land."

"In essence."

"Typical."

"Totally."

Kage, Andy, Slur, XY, Kuroban and Burai were standing in a metallic corridor somewhere: a massive armored wall shut the way in front of them and the corridor was lit by a simple fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling: Kage spotted a golden plaque with silver words written on it so Andy explained about its meaning: the other four were hardly impressed in the first place.

"So this is a small circle-shaped space station that is but 10 meters in length and 5 in width. And 3 in height." XY muttered as he scanned the corridor.

"Yes. The coordinates in that box led us here. No surprise. If we could build "Heaven" to shoot down Dimensional Converters into the surface from orbit and you, Kuroban, could build "it" then… Anyone else could build something and hide it. Something tells me that not even those two knew this place existed." Slur calmly commented.

"Good point, yeah… And I guess we gotta wait until 7AM sharp for that wall to open." Kuroban shrugged.

"There's a lot of noise being focused on the wall itself so it impedes warp and scanning. I'm surprised you're not using your own warp system to force your way in, Slur." Burai brought up with some surprise.

"I would rather prove I have patience. Let us pretend we are his pawns for now. That will give them over-confidence. They will gloat. And commit some mistake. And then they shall fall." She simply replied.

"Good reasoning." XY approved of it.

"I wonder why the man bothered to call for us too." Kage muttered.

"Must've heard rumors of the "Ryuusei Form" but has been unable to find any actual records of it so is eager to see it." Andy shrugged.

"Ah. Good point." Kage calmly replied.

"6:59:49… 10 seconds left." XY announced.

"Welcome to my research facility, my folk." Void's voice rang out from speakers hidden in several spots.

Nobody replied believing it to be a taunt: a chuckle ensued as the wall finally began to recoil and then slowly slide to the left: a jet-black cavernous room awaited them.

"According to the scans that is what takes up 90% of the space. The rest is this corridor and a room having an emergency escape pod. Let us go and see who our enemy is." Slur took the lead.

The others silently nodded in agreement and stepped into the room: the wall locked again behind them but none bothered to look back or to react: the hum of some unseen machine rang out close by.

"Hum. The noise interferes with the scan capabilities."

"Heh, heh, heh. You're but mice in a cage... Huff. What manners. I bother to invite you all and you don't even bother to say "hi"… Youth nowadays…" He sighed in disappointment.

"We didn't come to stick to your crappy script. State your purpose already and let's get on with it. Neo – Soviet rascal." Kuroban taunted.

"Don't put me on the same boat as my subordinates!"

"Ah. Since we knew nothing about you and seeing that your best subordinates were those two then…" He shrugged.

"Hmpf. Whatever." He calmed down from his initial outburst.

There was a sound and the surroundings' colors began to distort and change.

"Show it to me." Void ordered.

"Fine. Ready, Andy?" Kage took a step forward and flung away his jacket (with the sunglasses on a pocket of it).

"Always."

"Synchro Chip!"

Kage drew a curious Battle Chip.

This Chip had no label and instead had an emerald dome made of some slightly transparent material similar to glass in the center of it surrounded by a black edge: the Golden Star logo had been set at a small scale SE of the dome and the contacts were different.

"Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

Andy dematerialized and appeared inside of the PET (colored golden and silver): Kage inserted the Synchro Chip on the PET and a graph displaying two indented halves of an hexagon colored green showed up: they fused and six vertexes appeared thus drawing a line between them: the PET screen began to glow and emit some streaks of light: Kage closed his eyes as the light expanded and the PET broke down into data.

"Hum." Void muttered with some slight interest.

The light dimmed to reveal how Kage had indeed achieved a "fusion" with Andy.

This fusion, or, rather "Cross Fusion", had Andy's bodysuit over his normal clothes but with some design differences.

The plating over his shoulders had a more pyramid-like form and was aiming towards the NW and NE, respectively.

The helmet's design was different as well: a silver-colored fin-shape piece formed at the sides, emerging from the ear pads' upper edge and extended until the end of the helmet: an arch was drawn over it and the space inside of it had a deeper tonality of silver.

A complicated drawing was imprinted within the forehead and the helmet's front now extended until the start of the nose

His hair now flowed out in a more natural manner from behind it.

A bronze-colored border formed around it and a straight line travelled towards the emblem to form a curve surrounding the lower half of it: the curve ended with a small "spike" drawing pointing downwards.

His forearm design included a thin separation around the elbow: the two combined section formed a hexagon with a golden-colored jewel set on its center.

The short section set on the rear half of the elbow was colored bronze while the rest of the forearm was slightly brighter.

The bronze borders travelling down the sides of his upper body ended around the hips: two circular bands of a bronze color were drawn over them with a small separation between them.

His boots' design was based upon that of his forearms: the soil was painted black and separated from the rest of the foot by a thin bronze-colored line.

The jetpack design had changed a bit, too, and it now included bright silver pieces connecting the upper right and left edges with the body: a curved golden line was drawn half-way across it: the rest of the backpack looked identical to Andy's usual form.

"Cross Fusion: successful." Andy's voice rang out through the radio.

"So that is the rumored Cross Fusion… It does resemble your technology somewhat, Kuroban."

"Yeah. But Denpa – Henkan doesn't need a Navi. It's just a pre-designed and pre-loaded battle armor. Hence why those Crimson Lobby rascals wanted it… Because they saw a business on it by selling it to ambitious military. But no – one gets to filth my creation in which I staked my pride and sweat and intelligence" Kuroban replied.

"Same here: nobody will dirty the legacy of my ancestors." Burai warned as he drew his blade.

"XY! Who the hell are you, huh?"

"I have no need to reply. Speculate." He calmly shot back.

"Your resemblance to Slur is too uncanny to be a coincidence."

"What if I say that we were created by the same research team?" She shot back with a shrug.

"Ah. Ah. Then it makes sense." He sounded interested by now.

"Aren't you going to show us your hide?" Kuroban challenged.

"I am Void. I am nothing. Thus I have no form."

"Liar. You need one to be constantly changing the SIM cards of your phone when you contact Spiral. And, also… If you don't have one… Why bother to place an escape capsule?" Burai countered.

"… Hmpf. Fine. I've got excellent hounds here. Mere stage tricks won't suffice here." He shrugged.

"… Kage. Andy. Blacken." Slur suddenly formed a creepy smile and seemed to have an idea.

"… Acknowledged."

"What? What are you going to do?" Void gasped.

"Show you what you wanted to see: are you not pleased?" She taunted him with that creepy smile on her face.

"That face…! You look like you could kill and have fun! Have you gone psycho or what?" Void was getting nervous.

"Indeed…" She eagerly replied.

The other 3 stepped back and formed a Dream Aura each plus a Holy Panel as if getting ready for something.

"Now… I'll unlock it… The Ryuusei Form! The power of Golden Star: the forbidden power! Granted to us by Slur – sama to achieve the goals of Golden Star!" Kage and Andy exclaimed.

"Devil!" Void gasped: angst could be felt on his voice now.

"Hmpf… You will regret asking us to show it to you… Let fear and panic consume your pitiful existence… This power can destroy any warrior's mind… And a lowlife like you shall not be able to resist it…"

"D-defense aura! I must protect the machine!"

Red black and red strings of energy began to pour out of CF Kage's chest emblem: they began to form a "cocoon" around his body while more energy flowed and the formation began to hover before it stopped about five centimeters over the ground: the only lights were the "cocoon" and the amplified sound of heartbeats began to ring out as if to add a more dramatic air to the thing.

"W-what's this…? T-this pressure…! Something that announces that all before it will be annihilated…! W-what horror!"

"Hum. Interesting." XY seemed to be interested.

"So this is what Gray experienced…" Kuroban rubbed his chin with the right hand, seemingly curious.

"It's no joke." Burai admitted.

"Of course not. I built it myself." Slur shrugged.

The "cocoon" suddenly exploded in a bright flash of crimson red and black light and the energy released hit a cylindrical barrier set in the middle of the room: the vague shape of a cylindrical device could be seen rising towards the ceiling inside of the field for a fleeting instant.

"I have descended!"

"W-W-W-W-WHAT'S _THAT_?"

"Your doom."

CF Kage had gained a new form which had an "advanced" look to it yet it also looked terrifying.

The helmet's design was rather peculiar because it wasn't a full helmet to begin with: the sides of it had two gray metallic shapes the form of which was slightly reminiscent of the Alphabet "L" character: a fluorescent green incision had been cut in the part adjacent to the face while the larger segments had a yellow-colored incision cut into it.

The segment covering the head was built using a blackish material and could be divided in four sections: the centermost, built like a triangle aiming south and which also covered the forehead: it ended over the nose.

The western and eastern sections of the head's protection had been shaped after diamonds aiming NW and NE plus having green fluorescent material running down the sides to join with the "L" shapes.

The rearmost piece was a mere curved segment connecting the lateral pieces: a gray metallic triangle was drawn on the middle of the head from where a black-colored fin emerged: the fluorescent green line divided it into two unequal portions: front and rear, and the rear one was painted using gray metallic coloring.

Kage's hair came out behind it because it was a "partial protection" model.

Red thick shades covered the eyes and nose plus a small grayish metallic piece of armor was built to protect his chin and lower jaw: the skin over his neck was black in color.

The chest area had a metallic spheroid protruding out of it and a green-colored incision had been cut on the middle of it: the upper front half was colored in a white-like color while the rear upper half was black: however, the whole lower half had chosen gray as color to be used: the piece of armor below connecting to the rest of the body shared the same color.

The armor's colors were combined in the rest of the body below the chest segment: the flanks of the body had grey armor with green fluorescent edges while the central part of the body was tinted in pitch blackish coloring.

Regarding his arms' design, a black piece of armor covered the shoulders which were encompassed by metallic spheroids: these spheroids were not "complete" spheroids because they had a cavity from where the arms emerged: a thin fluorescent green circular line was placed close to the upper edge where the armor was colored in black color and formed a dome with a hole at the topmost part of each spheroid the inner edge of which was painted using a yellow palette of coloring: these spheroids also had an indentation signaling the separation between each half.

His arms' skin was black in coloring while the armor built over his wrists was painted using two colors.

Black for the upper half and gray for the lower half: a small thin piece of armor emerging from the upper half and shaped like the Alphabet "L" character turned 90º to the right was also present there.

The legs' armor, however, included two shapes which were a pair of combined cones (fused and aiming up and down) colored metallic gray and set within a green cavity extending from the hips' start to past his knees.

The colors then split as the outer edge of each leg was colored in gray armor while the inner edge were colored black: a green fluorescent line marked the division between them: the lines then drew another cavity which included gray metallic armor plating inside of it.

The feet armor was split in rear and front halves.

Each half was respectively colored black and metallic gray: a fin formed on the front half and it had a green fluorescent line crossing it on its front.

Two discs having an external black edge, an inner thin yellowish edge and a red dome built on the core were set on the upper ends of the shoulder-mounted-pieces: yellowish energy emanated from them.

Lastly, two extensions came out from behind the body which happened to be black-colored frames supporting reddish wings which were made of energy flowing from the shorter starting section to the larger outwards section.

Kage's eyes, visible under the transparent red shades, displayed a total lack of emotion and they surprisingly had switched to a mix of blue and red as if to display his current "Full Synchro" status: his face-mask hid his nose and mouth.

"Are you ready to experience ABSOLUTE POWER?" He icily asked.

"W-what happened? Brainwash?"

"Oh no. It simply alters the frequency of the voice and its speed. They act out of their own will." Slur shrugged and snickered.

"Hum." The other three seemed to be slightly surprised by the form itself and the behavior that Kage and Andy were displaying.

"… Black End… GALAXY!"

"CF Kage" lifted his hands and formed a small spheroid of blackish energy which he then dropped behind the machine: it suddenly grew into a large black hole which began to suck everything around it: "CF Kage" drew a reddish blade on his right forearm and boosted on forward cutting the air on his wake.

"S-stop!" Void gasped

"CF Kage" hit the shield: he then flew past the black hole which suddenly collapsed and the shockwave originating from its implosion hit the energy fully thus delivering further damage: the whole field frizzled, crackled, emitted bursts of static and finally shattered like glass while some devices exploded along the height of the machine: the scandal soon calmed down and "CF" Kage silently hovered back at his initial position.

"T-the barrier…! Which was supposed to withstand all kind of energy-based attacks…! The generators overloaded…! I can't believe it's got such power…!" Void was dumbfounded by now.

"Starting to regret your actions?" Slur taunted.

"D-DAMN IT ALL!"

"By the way… The energy burst also destroyed the noise emitters so we can now scan. You seem to have one on you because I cannot spot you around here." Slur added as she scanned the area.

"Inconceivable… T-this is…" Void was muttering.

"Hum. Cylindrical machine about 2.8 meters tall. There is a robot harm popping out from the top and seems to hold a chair." XY scanned the center of the room.

"Height?" Burai asked.

"About 2.61 meters…" XY replied.

"Fine. Let's make the guy meet the ground. Hah!"

Burai jumped into the air and swung his blade: he cut something and a metallic armchair which seemingly had nothing on it hit the floor and bent: a couple of covers partly opened revealing control panels.

"Gotcha. Kuroban. Your turn."

"Hmpf… I gotta return the favor later… Go, Dexia Sword! Find the noise emitter and destroy it!"

Kuroban formed the Dexia Sword and it flew across the air to stab a small dome set slightly over the head and before the top edge of the armchair: there was a frizzle and the camouflage system got deactivated thus revealing who was sitting in the armchair: Slur formed a wider grin.

"Damn it!"

"You are…!" XY gasped.

"What?"

"… The leader of… Nebula! Doctor… Regal!"

"REGAL?"

"Indeed! I am Dr. Regal!"

It turned out that "Void" actually was Dr. Regal: he stood up and shook some dust off his clothes before making a smug grin and looking at their surprised faces (CF Kage hadn't reacted and looked like he wasn't paying attention: yet again his eyes weren't visible).

"You died years ago. When Forte blew up your submarine in which you were fleeing after the defeat of Nebula Grey." Slur hissed.

"Hmpf."

"Wait a minute… What about Twilight? Did the guy survive or you killed the guy?" Kuroban suddenly asked.

"Twilight? Who's that?" He frowned.

"Don't play dumb. There was that photo in the Nebula hideout with your handwriting that said "eliminate"."

"What are you talking about? I know no Twilight! And I don't know what photo you're talking about either."

"Amnesia?" Burai wondered.

"I'm not amnesiac! I perfectly remember that day!" He grumbled back.

"Hum. How did you survive, then? Illuminate us." Slur challenged.

"I was on time to put on a small oxygen tank and since the sub was only about 40 meters under the water I swam away until I reached the surface: it's been easy to hide with the resources I'd built up and with everyone assuming I was dead." He announced with a grin.

"How curious. Why would you bother to have that at hand? I thought Forte blew up the sub almost instantly?" Kuroban sounded like he didn't totally believe that tale.

"Hmmm…" Burai looked like he found it fishy as well.

"You never know." He shrugged.

"Does that mean you feared your sub blowing up?"

"Of course. The Ameroupe Navy could come hunt me from one moment to another." He dully replied.

"And you swam up 40 meters while wearing all of that?" Burai questioned next.

"Of course." He shrugged.

"… You're kidding me." Burai grumbled.

"What?"

"Clothes, when they get wet, they become extra weight. And drag you down. There's no way you could've swum all of that with all of those clothes dragging you to the bottom."

"Well, I did!"

"You didn't. You're making it up. The whole tale. You're not Regal, are you?"

"I AM!"

"No, you aren't. Any human knows that. And even more if they've experienced it themselves." Kuroban argued back.

"… Fine! I did take them off! There, convinced? I didn't say it because it was shameful!" He grumbled.

"Hmmm… Nevertheless… You claiming you don't know who Twilight was reeks. We've got records that the man existed." Kuroban wasn't convinced, obviously enough.

"I insist! I don't know any Twilight!"

"… You still have another jammer on you. Why bother?" Slur suddenly brought up.

"There is something you want to hide from the scans. And it is not your face or identity. Something… else." XY muttered and was mistrustful of the situation.

"Whatever. That doesn't have any relevance!"

"We decide what is relevant and what is not. Hah!"

Slur formed those wires as she aimed the right arm at Regal: they coiled around a small cylindrical device attached to the right side of Regal's waist: she pulled it away and then flung it into the air: XY drew a blade and jumped into the air to slice it up: Regal gasped and stepped back, starting to get nervous.

"… Aha – hah." Both exclaimed.

"So?" The other 2 asked.

"That is a…" Slur began.

"…_ROBOT_." XY finished.

"Copy Roid?" Kuroban wasn't impressed.

"No. Power signature is completely different. Seems to be an original design. Maybe dating some years back."

"I see! It's a backup plan Regal left behind! A robot that believes to be the man himself and looks like the man! Maybe at first he pretended to claim he's immortal or some crap like that but since things were hectic then changed his mind and went into hiding." Burai realized.

"And that means that the "icon" or whatever they called it that they revere, that what lies _within_ the "void" is… The real Dr. Regal. I'm sure Regal made the robot be totally loyal and thus came up with that "ideology" to ascend him to immortal icon. Typical of a megalomaniac."

"And this is why you bothered to approach Obihiro: because he'd been the leader of an "evil" org as well and you saw an equal on the guy and even though that you could tempt to succeed you or overcome you." CF Kage suddenly looked up: he looked calm and collected.

"Damn it all! All these years of preparation…! And it got ruined because of that damned IR vision!" Void growled.

"So? I suppose that machine is your trump card. What can it do? Brainwash humans across the globe with your "ideology"?" Slur taunted.

The machine was very simplistic as it was a purple metallic cylinder that had no features whatsoever.

"HMPF! I might've failed to impress you in the psychological aspect but I've still got the Shadow Novas! My trump cards! Ultimate! Created after long research and using you lowlifes' battle data… Too bad I couldn't add this last batch but it doesn't matter!"

"Imitations of us? Talk about original." Kuroban taunted.

"Totally. An imitation will never overcome the original."

"Hmpf. Maybe he got inspired by the "Dark Chips" Twilight developed time ago… If misused they could create a "dark twin" of the user and it would have the ability to use anything on their folder or their natural abilities… And copy their HP too… They would lack, however, a proper AI, and would be more like an automated process running on its own and choosing tactics at random from a pool." Slur exposed.

"Yes! I saw imagery of it more than once! Your own right-hand man, Kuroban, used them!"

"I know. Gray did quite the idiocy back then." Kuroban fumed.

"And the mysterious armored fighter "Barbatos" too! Too bad I couldn't find the man again… I was about to seduce him with further "shadow power" and turn him into my best agent… Did you dispose of the man, you lot?" Void questioned.

"In a sense." Slur shrugged.

"You mean that you did. No surprise. That man was growing too powerful and was a threat to you." Void got smug.

"Will playing Sherlock Holmes help you overcome us, Void?" XY taunted in a dull tone of voice.

"Damn it all! Don't put me in that circus!"

"Then we shall put you in that farce you yourself are."

"FARCE! ME! DAMN IT! DIE!"

There was a hum as three lines formed on the base of the cylinder and a cover moved forward and up to reveal a mass of blackish energy that was pulsating: it suddenly shifted form and assumed the form of Dr. Regal: it made a pose like it was laughing before more of that mass began to rise from the ground and begin to take shape: everyone looked on, barely impressed, as black copies of their forms (all with purple eyes) formed and quickly rushed out of the machine as the cover quickly shut again thus shielding it.

"Soak them in blood!" Slur commanded.

"Huh?" Void gasped.

"Red Gaia… Eraser!"

"What!"

The disks hovering inches from the shoulders flew into the air and then assumed inclined positions aiming diagonally towards the enemies: they produced continuous streams of reddish energy which travelled across the ground drawing the Alphabet "X" character: CF Kage formed a red beam which he shot straight at the enemies: a gigantic dome-shaped explosion spread on the spot and wrecked a large part of the floor thus revealing circuitry and pipes beneath it: all of the enemies had been wiped out and the explosion sent Void flying across the room and crashing on the far wall: he hit the floor next but was back to his feet soon enough: he growled.

"Not fair! You are to fight each other's hatred and grudge and be consumed by them!" He grumbled.

"Who said we would abide to your script?" XY taunted.

"I said it before. Your shitty script is shit." Burai taunted next.

"Let them come. I'll cut them up." Kuroban drew his Dexia Sword and aimed it at the machine.

"Cancel the Ryuusei Form." Slur ordered.

"Acknowledged."

The whole form began to turn into energy shapes and streaks of it flew out to reform the "cocoon" around CF Kage: it was steadily absorbed back into his body through the chest emblem: he opened his eyes and they were back to normal: he drew a Long Blade and a Super Vulcan to get ready for battle while the others drew their usual weapons too.

"I can breed them to infinity! They can take any shape! And possess the others to awaken their hatred and grudge! Then they will become my legionnaires and with them the evil world shall be born! The evil world that Lord Regal desired! It'll finally be completed! And I will fulfill my purpose, my _raison d'etre_!" Void laughed.

The hatch opened again and a new batch of copies flew off: sword clashes ensued as everyone fought their copies and Void looked on, laughing: he soon had to stop because he saw that the copies were easily pushed back in the deadlocks and the others didn't even sweat.

"A copy can never rival the mastery the original has. Because that's something that's achieve with time and dedication. Those are immaterial so they can't be copied." Kuroban announced.

"Damn it! Why didn't I think of that?"

"You fools who claim that copies are the ultimate weapon always forget that: that they can copy the shape and the looks but… If you do not know the exact output or the means to produce it, then… They will be feeble and weak. In short: a copy can NEVER have the level of power the original has." XY shot back.

"No! I saw it by looking up old records! How that mighty Rock Man was unable to stand to his own hatred and grudge!" Void growled.

"Oh yes? First time: there was not a fight. They only introduced themselves and fled taking Forte with them. Second time: Rock Man was forced to fight a possessed comrade. Third time: Rock Man struggled with the enemy but was able to win because he could awaken Forte: the enemy then absorbed Dullahan and fought on but now the tide had turned and it was overcome. In essence: the enemy was relying on outside forces to be able to fight." Slur calmly listed.

"Indeed." XY confirmed.

"Sheesh! Possess them! Awaken their hatred and grudge!"

The enemies lost their shape and became black matter which jumped and latched into some of them but failed to do so for Slur and XY: they were destroyed once they attempted to touch them.

"What!"

"We had a defensive layer on." Slur announced.

"And, also… Toppu!"

XY formed the "Toppu" Virus and it blew away the black mass to make it splatter against the machine and be stuck there: the other 3 combatants took a step forward.

"Damn it! You should've been possessed!"

"What an idiot. We've got armor. Several layers of it. These things are designed to skip through a Normal Navi's skin and quickly reach the core to then hijack it along with the brain. But it doesn't work on our cases because… We're still human. We've got a heart. And an organic brain. So they would have nothing to hijack." Burai scoffed.

"You're just like Regal. Arrogant. And arrogance leads to a quick and humiliating downfall."

"N-no way. This can't be true… The evil world…! The evil world will be born…! The evil world…! Lord Regal…! My purpose…! I can still do it, I can at least take that damned Navi…!"

"Same principle in Cross Fusion." CF Kage dully replied.

"Damn it! My threats should've kept you lot at bay!"

"Like they would. You might've kept our pals out of it but that doesn't stop us from doing that. Slur – sama isn't intimidated by some crappy idiot like you. She doesn't care about what society says about her. Society knows we do something for their benefit to begin with." CF Kage shot back to further demoralize Void.

"And this is why we'll stop you." Andy added.

"I can't believe all of you suddenly showed up in less than 5 years ever since the Super Cybeast was defeated! W-where did you all come out from? This can't be! There only were 2 competent fighters!"

"Oh. We've always been around. It's just that we felt the need to provide some "entertainment"." Kuroban snickered.

"You were too late in executing your plans. Maybe if you had tried back then you would have had better results. But something tells me that, nevertheless, someone would have gotten in your way. Maybe it would be not us but maybe it would be Forte. Or Blues. Or those incompetent fools of Search Man and Colonel." Slur added.

"Lord Regal! Guide me! What should I do?" He suddenly called out as if he'd run out of ideas.

"Your precious Regal can't answer 'cause he's dead." CF Kage gripped his clothes and glared at Void.

"You lowlife…!"

"What. You can't do anything now. Your "Shadow Novas" are but crap that would only work on Normal Navis. And even if you managed to mass spread those I'm sure that the Science Labs would've eventually found a counter measure to that." CF Kage shot back.

"Exactly. Or we would have." XY calmly added.

"Damn it all! Too many incomprehensible factors! The sudden appearance of XY, the four month disappearance of Kuroban's band of brats, these Golden Star…! You were not in the calculations left behind by the mighty Lord Regal!

"Yeah. Like they would be. Not like Regal was a seer and knew the upcoming future, right? Or did he hire Prophet Jeremy to tell him he'd lose his "_life_"? The book by Muertecillo LaMorgue?"

"Damn you! Go, my creations! Destroy them! Gather! And take on the ultimate form!"

"Hmpf. How vain."

The hatch opened and the mass popped out again: it suddenly began to fuse and took on the shape of "Proto": it pulsated and a crack formed in the middle of the room from where a blackish fog spread: there was a howl and Darkloid Cloud Man's black copy suddenly emerged from it followed by Heel Navis.

"Hmpf. So you opened up that sealed up domain." XY scoffed.

"Hah!"

Slur quickly jumped towards Cloud Man and easily sliced his torso in half: she then had her wires coil around the body as she formed a red circle in the air: it gained some thickness and reddish energy began to form on the lower edge: it all focused on a single spot to quickly become a wide reddish beam that shot inside of the crack as it closed because Burai and Kuroban had pierced Proto's core and cut off its head as well: the Heel Navis were easily taken care of by a Sonic Wave attack.

"Impossible! The Evil Soldiers and the Evil Commander! They should've been invincible, gained power boost from the Darkloid world!" Void gasped.

"Should've, should've… Never learnt the exact meaning of "should have", did you? Why not look it up on the Oxford website?" CF Kage drily taunted back.

"What a pointless device. Let us destroy it. Hah!"

Slur formed a portal and shot another beam inside of it: the beam apparently formed inside of the machine because it pierced through the top of it and explosions ensued inside of the structure: it shook and soon calmed down as it stopped working.

"Come to these…!" Void grumbled.

"Boss? I finished hacking the station. The boosters are disabled." Zero reported.

"Good job."

"WHAT?"

"Did you think we did not think of such a _clichéd _scenario? I had Zero hack into the booster computer and revoke all accesses."

"It can't be! I was to destroy you all! Without leaders those orgs would crumble and…!"

"Yeah? And why do you think there's a _Vice_ President? VPs are to assume leadership if the original leader is unable to." CF Kage shot back.

"What? Is there such a thing? Impossible! Only the leader can have the absolute power! No – one else can!"

"Typical super villain thinking." Andy fumed.

"I failed…! All these years…! Money…! Agents… Resources…! Plans, secrecy…! Everything… For nothing! Lord Regal said: "they will forget us with time. Bide time. And then wipe them out!"… Why didn't those words of wisdom come to be true?"

"Because that was mere arrogance. And no – one can predict the future to begin with." XY replied.

"You die with me! I will pass into the Void and become a new Sacred Icon to lead a new org! Those two will continue my goals! And one day they shall create the evil world! GLORY TO LORD REGA~L!"

"Shit!"

CF Kage used an Area Steal to warp away from Void as he roared and his core suddenly unleashed the accumulated fusion energy: a sphere of energy formed and expanded before reaching the limit, collapsing into itself, and imploding: the shockwave tossed the armchair into the air and had it bounced twice on the ground before all calmed down and only some bare fragments remained.

"Hmpf. Foolish until the end. A mere machine deluded by its own programming. As expected of a fool." Slur fumed and was unimpressed.

"Feels somewhat lacking, even. Guess I expected too much."

"Yeah. Going up against guys who've got alien tech is the dumbest idea ever. That piece of junk was as dumb as Regal. Thought that that petty Nebula Grey would suffice to rule it all… Who proved the guy wrong? You two." Burai looked at CF Kage.

"Yeah. I know." His voice now switched back to that of Netto.

"We sure did. And even Forte was able to fight back the thing's "possession" not too long ago." Rock Man added.

"I know." Kuroban shrugged.

"How about we go back already and leave the cleansing up job to the Net Police?" Burai suggested.

"I approve. Enough wasted time. At least we proved to that fool that, despite their claims, they were unable to overcome fear. Trying to do that will lead it to it resurfacing again one day." Slur agreed on it.

"What do you think of it, XY…? Huh?"

DZING!

"Who are you?"

Burai had been about to question XY but he'd suddenly spun around and drawn his blade to shatter something made of glass: the mysterious white-clad and hooded figure was there and the remains of a mirror-like material were scattered as its feet while were glittering: the figure silently stepped back without emitting a single sound.

"Some type of mirror fiber that allows the wearer to blend with the surroundings and thus hide from IR and naked eye." He seemingly analyzed them on the spot.

The figure, however, crossed the arms in the shape of an "X" and became invisible again: a white pillar of light ensued which blinded them all and when it vanished the figure had seemingly escaped.

"Who the…?" The others wondered.

"Wish I knew…! Spy…? Agent…? Another enemy…? An enigma…"


	20. Chapter 20: Admiration to peace

**Chapter 20: Admiration to peace**

07:07 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 30th…

"… Yo~! It's the rampagin' kart!"

"Rampaging kart...? Uh… Oh come on… Napalm Man! It's only 7AM and it's a Sunday! Let me rest!"

"Heh, heh!"

"I'm going to complain to Legato – san…!"

"Oh?"

"And to Slur – sama!"

"YIKES!"

"Huff… The guy! Man!"

Leon grumbled as he tossed inside of his bed because Napalm Man had woken him up: he announced that'd complain so the guy ran off and he tried to fall asleep again.

"I was in a good mood and…! The guy! I'm so going to reprogram him!"

_But… The leader was defeated yet both Kage – san and Slur – sama had a look like they weren't pleased with the outcome. What could've happened? And I heard that when the Sweden police broke into the apartment it turned out to be empty and those 2 had fled: to make things worse they found the car parked next to the Russian Embassy so it's very possible that they're hiding there with the help of their accomplice and the Sweden police and Interpol are unable to do anything. Sheesh. But since they have problem getting along maybe they'll boycott each other and none will be able to become a new leader. _

"… Hum… Ah! Enough. Let's stop thinking of sad stuff. The threat is gone and that's it. We should be rejoicing." He muttered aloud.

_I'll drop by Raito – kun's place later. It's only been a month but I feel like we've totally gotten along!_

07:37 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Well, well. Mr. President. Early bird, are we not?"

"Huh? Ah. Ikada – san. Good morning."

"You seem tense despite the victory."

"It's just that I feel that we can't let those 2 loose."

"Yes, I know. But why don't you do that tomorrow and today celebrate and rejoice?"

"I feel like we already did that yesterday. Work comes back after the celebration."

"If you say so…"

"Morning. Hey. Dark Man. Got espresso?"

"Of course. Burner Man: an espresso!"

"_Marchando_!"

Ikada walked into the cafeteria and found Hades having a coffee plus a croissant as breakfast: he'd left the day's newspapers on the table and Ikada sat down in front of him: he looked tense despite the victory and Ikada was trying to convince him to relax: Sandra came in next and requested an espresso so Burner Man replied from the kitchen.

"Maybe if you say they were bribing one of the embassy's staff then they would arrest them?" Ikada offered.

"We tried. They played deaf. I guess bribes are so common there that they no longer see them as a crime."

"Heck. Hmmm… Huff! I don't have any more ideas. Not yet." She tried to come up with something.

"Believe me. We spent hours yesterday trying to come up with a reason for the Russians to judge them. We offered them the data on all of their actions but claimed it didn't involve them but other nations. They challenged those nations to capture them." Hades sighed.

"Wait. Do they know their leader is gone?"

"Of course: why else would have they bothered to flee?"

"Ah. For a moment I thought we could fake a message and… Hey! They don't know we've got that Magnum man, right?"

"… I see. Send them a message pretending to be that Magnum man about an escape route, attach fake passports and have them be arrested at customs… Hmmm… We could make them try to enter Finland and be arrested there. Then the Interpol can ask for their extradition and Finland would cooperate. They could also judge them for trying to put a bomb into the Danish Embassy." Hades gasped in realization.

"See?" Ikada grinned.

"Excellent! We must get into work now. I'll go ring up the Net Police and they should be able to have Interpol ask for Finland's cooperation. They surely are eager to get their hands on those 2 as well."

"But calm down, sir. Remember: we're talking about post so it'll take at least a couple days to reach them. Finish your breakfast and then you can go work on it." Ikada insisted.

"Well… I guess so." He sighed and sounded relieved.

"Morning… Sheesh. It's you! What are cha up to, hmmm?"

"My. Joanne. Morning."

"Mademoiselle! I hope you don't intend to start another pointless quarrel, do you?" Hades warned.

"Yikes! N-no, of course not!" She gulped.

"Then please behave like an adult. For once. Can you, Mademoiselle?" He requested of her.

"O-of course I can! Huh… Dark Man! Orange juice!"

"Roger."

"Well. It'd seem cha can behave when they tell you to, huh?"

"Hmpf!"

Lily came in and directed an ironic comment at Tozukana who fumed and sat down on a table as she looked at the chart.

"And a salami sandwich too."

"Understood."

"I'll take care of it." Shade Man replied from the kitchen.

"Oh yeah. Shade Man takes care of things that don't involve using the fire, right?" She recalled.

"Yeah." Lily confirmed.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." Agoras walked in.

"If it ain't Holmes. Back from the wilderness?" Tozukana joked.

"The moor? Of course. Uncle Moor went off to the prairie." Agoras replied to the joke with some humor.

"You and your humor…" Victor muttered.

"Did you say something, Watson?"

"Forget it."

"Everyone's being early risers today." Hades was surprised.

"We felt like today was a day to enjoy at its fullest, sir." Agoras replied.

"Good point. Maybe I should do so too." Hades muttered.

"Before the horror night drops by?" Atarasei joined them too.

"Horror night?" He frowned.

"Halloween, sir." Alex clarified.

"Ah yes. I now remember. I was never one for those things so…" He distractedly muttered.

"Why's that?"

"Oh. My parents wanted me to be strict with myself so they hired a teacher to teach me all about economics, business and all. So I almost never had time to play or interact with others." He calmly explained as she sipped some more coffee.

"Oh. I see." Atarasei was surprised.

"Yet… You ended up meeting Slur – sama, no?" Sandra asked.

"Yes. By pure coincidence. But today I don't feel like telling the tale."

"Oh well. We'll hear to it some other day."

"… Too noisy…"

"Then why didn't you come later or earlier?"

"… Concentration…"

"If you say so…"

Qong stepped in while muttering something so Tom questioned him why he'd come at that time: Qong merely shrugged.

"Well! Morning, everyone. Today's a great day, isn't it?" Suzuki strolled in while humming a tune.

"One of those days to enjoy." Akemi added.

"Man. You were right, Beta. Everyone's up already." Zarashe came in next and whistled in surprise.

"See?" Beta X replied.

"By the way… Where's our instructor?" Tozukana asked.

"Keitai – san's taken a few days off because he felt weak. I guess he got a cold." Hades calmly replied.

"Hum. Good morning, _madames _et _monsieurs_." _Noir_ joined them while stretching.

"I thought this good mood would do well, sir." Legato smiled and sounded pleased that he'd dropped by.

"Where's our elusive shadowy fellow?" Tozukana asked.

"If you mean Kage – kun then he's no on board. He was going to a friend's and left last evening. Maybe he'll drop by later." He shrugged.

"And the other Navis?" Lily wondered.

"Apparently… Engrossed with a movie." Victor seemed to recall.

"And our Big Boss?" Ikada giggled.

"Somewhere. Mr. Zero is working at the computer, as usual."

"Ladies and gentlemen… How about we call this… "Admiration to peace"?" Dark Man suggested.

"Good idea. I like the sound of it." Hades approved of it.

"Say. Where's Mr. Daikani?" Agoras looked around.

"It's a weekend. He doesn't need to come."

"I'd forgotten. For a moment I could swear it was a Monday. Guess I've been too stressed with the college homework."

"That's why I said a break of a lil while would do fine."

"I know."

"Huh… Well… Yeah. Guess that." Tozukana seemed to have a bit of reticence regarding Dark Man's motto.

"If you've got another idea then post it on the blog later."

"I know. Ya needn't tell me."

"Now, now." Dark Man tried to calm them down.

"… Maybe a break would do me well too…" Hades muttered.

"Of course it'll do, sir." _Noir_ encouraged.

"Thank you. I guess I really needed it as of late."

"Didn't we all, sir?" Legato smiled as well.

88:45 AM (Philippines Time)…

"… And then you deliver a built-up smash and send 'em flying 'till the infinite!"

"Yeah. Classical."

"Heh! That robot sure was cheap."

"Plotting something worthless again?"

"Wha! Ernst! We're just talking! Don't look at me like I'm the source of all trouble!"

"I'm wary."

"Now, now. Ernst…"

"Prince. Sir."

"Take it easy."

"Roger, sir."

"And you guys better not bring up taboos!"

"I know, _aibou_! We were just talking about Smash Brothers!"

"Ah. If that's the case then… Come, Ernst. Let's do some morning exercise to vent it off."

"Roger, sir."

Eisei, Sieg and Urateido had been chatting while sitting in the pier of the Shunoros Island: Ernst approached them while looking wary and mistrustful of them so Eisei defended himself: Kuroban walked in from the base and placed his right hand over Ernst's shoulder to calm him down before he warned the other 3: he began to jog and Ernst tried to keep up to his pace as they circled the island.

"Ah! Nothing like an early bath." Umisama emerged from the water and laughed.

"Isn't it cold, Umisama? It's almost November, you know."

"Oh. But temperatures rarely drop below 15 Celsius in this region of the world anyway. It's passable." He replied as he climbed up the beach and headed for the spot where his towel and sandals were at.

"Got a point."

"Heh! Heat's my field power bonus!" Netsuhonoo grinned as he looked at the sun.

"And warm winds are mine!" Kazebun chuckled.

"Guess fertile soil is mine." Kisei distractedly muttered as he crouched and picked some sand with the right hand.

"The moon's my ally!" Sieg snickered.

"And mine's the doom!" Urateido joked.

"Heh! I just came up with a motto for me… "Surge out! Gray Thunderbolt! Pierce and destroy my enemies!"…" Eisei suddenly rubbed his hands.

"That sounds so cool, man. Patent it for some FF hack!"

"FF?" Sieg asked.

"Final Fantasy!"

"Ah yeah. Those famed RPGs. I've heard of 'em but haven't had time to sit down and watch any play-through yet."

"Not like I'm an expert of them either but I remember playing a bit at a pal's house when I was in elementary." Urateido recalled.

"Why don't we pick the _Tales_ series?" Eisei suggested.

"That isn't a bad idea either."

"One question, though, Eisei… Is electricity as fast as light?"

"No. The transmission speed of electricity is but sub-light speed."

"Ah. I had that hunch but since you're the expert in those..."

"But I think it's faster than the speed of sound, nevertheless."

"Yeah. I once read someone make a joke with those... "You're but speed of sound... You're slow! That speed won't be able to match to my light-speed, to my speed!"... Heh!"

"Talk about a catchy joke. _Osoi _and _hayai_ instead of _onsoku_ and _kousoku_..."

"Isn't it? Someone came up with alternate spellings for those words but I don't remember who it was. Some random user, I think."

"Maybe it's Miyamoto?" Sieg laughed.

"Oho. That'd be funny."

"Maybe it's a teaser of the next _Metroid_ game?"

"Maybe."

"... Huff, huff... I lose."

"Well. But you're improving nevertheless."

"I'm surprised that you can run with that armor on, sir."

"It's actually lighter than what it seems. And I know I sweat terribly but I'm just going to have a shower and that's it."

Ernst and Kuroban finished their jogging: Ernst had taken off his coat and shirt because he surely felt too hot with them and tied those to his waist: he leant against the wall while Kuroban calmly stood next to him: Eisei and the other two glanced one moment over there but quickly resumed their earlier chat as if fearing Ernst to get annoyed.

"Another thing I saw... Some genius commander who came up with a plan at random like playing net games!"

"Really..." Urateido laughed.

"What else?"

"A Queen who wanted to rule over a nation of zombies!" He whispered.

"Scary!" Sieg whistled in surprise.

"A crazy guy who devoured anything in front of him!"

"Sounds like a horror movie, even."

"A raging guy who was hotter than Napalm Man and Burner Man!" Eisei added with a snicker.

"Oho."

"The arrogant guy with the speed pun!"

"And?"

"Eh... A greedy _samurai_ who was obsessed with gaining further power to overcome all enemies!"

"Greedy _samurai_, eh? Interesting."

"And some weird cross-dressing guy who seemed to be _yaoi_." He added in a lower whisper.

"Heh! Sounds like it's quite the gathering."

"Seven of them, no? Looks like each one represents one of the 7 deadly sins." Urateido commented.

"True." Eisei realized.

"... Are you plotting something?" Ernst suddenly questioned (he'd dressed back by now) with some annoyance.

"We're talking about a blog!" Eisei complained.

"Ernst... What did I tell you about venting off the bad mood?" Kuroban sighed.

"I'm sorry, sir. I must be disappointing you, sir." Ernst apologized to Kuroban.

"Somewhat. You're right on that. I don't want you to degenerate into a paranoiac man who sees conspiracies anywhere. Please calm down and go have a shower. It'll do you well." Kuroban ordered.

"By your orders, sir."

"And it's true that they were talking about a blog because I heard it all. So they're not to blame... this time around, that is."

The other 3 felt a shiver go down their spines and gulped as if fearing to be the targets of Kuroban's annoyance.

"Maybe you could continue that at your home, Urateido."

"Y-yes, sir! L-let's go, guys."

"And, you guys... Remember that there's no more power bonus and you can't use the "Oreichalcos Boundary" against Golden Star or the Cyber CID... You can use it against those Phoenix guys or any proxies or pawns the remains of Shadow Nova might try to throw at us. Gotcha?"

He headed inside of the base and into his room which was placed in the southern end of the island: he locked the door behind him and sighed as he pulled the curtains over the balcony door.

"Cancel."

His armor dissipated into energy and turned into an spheroid: it was made of circuitry boards covered by a transparent plastic-like material formed in the air: it included two bands colored black and white spanning through it from pole to pole and another band which surely was the Equator: its four corners had pieces of armor colored in red, green, blue and purple colors.

"Phew. Time for a good shower."

Kuroban had black hair and kept a neatly combed manner while his eyes' irises were blood red.

He had no trace of a beard or moustache so he still retained a youthful appearance despite being on his 20s or past them.

He only wore a couple of black boxers.

He picked a towel and entered the adjacent bathroom: he turned on the shower and undressed to begin showering.

_Well. I think I deserve a break too. Let's forget the tensions and enjoy it! Maybe some sun-bathing before the temperatures drop? Heh, heh!_

11:11 AM (Bangkok Time)…

"… So. XY. What have you found out?"

"From the analysis of the material I picked up…"

"You look concerned."

"Another org?"

"No, Burai. I think this is beyond organizations."

"Huh? I'm not sure if I understood you."

"Calm down. Both of you."

Slur and Burai were speaking with XY and Helios: Slur asked and XY trailed off while looking worried: Burai grumbled and XY sighed so Burai frowned at his reply: Helios tried to calm them down.

"Well. That material uses a type of carbon fiber as raw basis and then adds that mirror coating. Its thickness and weight are extremely well balanced and its atomic structure allows for it to be quite flexible. Yet that atomic structure is neatly polished and shaped. Now. Do you know anyone who would bother to make it look like it? Think that no – one would bother to check a material to that extent." XY exposed.

"How odd." Slur frowned.

"… Wait. You don't mean that…" Burai gasped and seemed to realize what XY meant.

"Yes."

"By all the…" Slur cursed, for once.

"Calm down!" Helios insisted.

"… What can we do?" Slur asked.

"I am not sure yet. Nor is Master Helios."

"Trying to seize them by force could bring negative consequences. We want to avoid those at all costs." Helios warned.

"Point taken." Slur crossed her arms.

"So… We ignore them?" Burai asked.

"For now, that is." XY replied.

"Hmmm… Do you think _they_ knew?"

"Who…? Ah! No. Maybe this was decided after they expedited their report… And maybe we are getting the wrong idea." XY replied after a momentary hesitation.

"Wrong idea?"

"Maybe they have come to _scout_. Just to scout. And _assess_. Scout and assessment. Hence why they carried this camouflage system to be able to move around undetected and unseen." Helios exposed.

"Ah. When you put it like that…" Slur realized that he had a point.

"Hum. If it's but a scout then maybe they're not supposed to be authorized to fight us."

"Let us suppose that is the case."

"Couldn't we complain? That should shake them up a bit, no?" Burai suggested.

"Maybe there is no need to. If that one was really a scout then they must be reporting every a fixed time back at their superiors. And they will report I found them and we saw them. And their superiors will get nervous: they surely wanted to avoid us altogether." XY exposed.

"Ah. Good. So they might cease all further attempts before they end up at the receiving end of your anger." Slur calmly guessed.

"Yes. That is why I suggest we wait some days."

"How would we know that they have reacted?" Slur asked.

"Good point. We are working on a method to try to trace their location based on their profile and estimated mass. It is incomplete as of now but I think that we could have a working prototype before tomorrow."

"Aha."

"That way they would know we are looking for them. And that could put further pressure on the superiors to cancel this." Helios replied.

"Alright. Then I leave that up to you two. We shall focus on finishing digging up the ramifications of the Seraphs and hope there are not any more humans like those two." Slur told them as she stood up.

"Understood. Do you agree on it, Burai?"

"Yeah. It directly involves you guys. I'd rather go polish my skills a bit. I've got a scheduled match with Legato, too."

"Good. I shall report the decisions of this meeting to Kuroban. As for Kage and Andy… I will simply tell them to ignore that because it is outside our sphere of influence. President Hades and Kuroshiro will not say anything about it either. And Legato will keep it quiet too." Slur told the others while looking satisfied.

"Understood." Helios nodded in agreement.

"Goodbye."

"See you."

Both exited the room so Helios sighed and nodded his head in negation as if he disproved of something.

"Let us hope this does not lead to something stupid and with terrible consequences." He sighed.

"Let us hope so." XY sighed as well.

"I shall go back to the laboratory. You talk with the 4 warriors and Pharaoh Man to check on the status. Make sure the 7 fools are properly shut down and they will not wake up." He ordered.

Helios headed towards the laboratory while XY hovered and headed away into another building inside of the city he found a wide room where the warriors were training against dummy Navis: XY clapped and they stopped to kneel in front of him.

"Good. Continue that training."

"Roger, Lord XY."

"Pharaoh Man. Warn me if anything out of place happens."

"Your Will!" Pharaoh Man replied.

_It is a bit of a paradox but there ARE 2 Pharaoh Men. One was built by Golden Star using the data I handed them and this other one is the original one who was in the pyramid and whom I recently rebuilt. But seeing how things are with Kuroshiro and Atarasei… I better not get distracted. Let us get back to working on that device. Let us hope that they will not commit the same mistake that the ones before them were about to do…!_

"By the way, Lord XY…" Guts Style called out.

"What is it?"

"I think that the sleeping program on Laser Man has either some flaw or the man has built some level of antibodies. There are logs that register interruption of it for a few seconds but since the body is numb then Laser Man is unable to move. But if it keeps up…"

"Hum. I see. I shall have to examine their body and try to figure out how to remove those "antibodies". It would be annoying if the fool were to break out of the capsule and go into a rampage. Maybe it is about time I did reprogram them." XY sighed.

"We apologize." They all bowed.

"Oh no. You did well on telling me! I must hurry dispatch that before it turns into further trouble. Now that the enemy is gone…!"

XY rushed away while the 4 warriors sighed.

"Maybe it was a bad idea?" Shield Style asked.

"Of course not." Brother Style replied.

"He had to know." Custom Style insisted.

"Lord XY. We shall protect this city no matter what it takes! Our word!"

14:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And there's this joke… A train inspector questions a grown-up kid who travels with his mom and doesn't have a ticket. "Are you sure you're 4?"… "I am."… "Sure of it?"… "Sure! Been sayin' the same for 3 years!"…"

"Hah, hah! So our young chum blessed by Uncle Trouble was actually 7 years old!"

"Uncle Trouble? More uncles, sir?"

"You know him. Obihiro – kun."

"And here I thought it couldn't get crazier, _senpai_!"

"You've seen nothing yet. The only downside of the town, Raito – kun."

"Hmpf… Guess that…"

"You seem to be feeling pleased, Enzan – sama."

"I heard another, guys! Al Capone's got a hostage and tries to get info outta the guy by forcing his head into a bath tub! "Where's the key?"… "Dunno! Gulp!"… "Where's the key?"… "Dunno! Gulp! Hire a diver! Can't see it!"…"

"Hoh, hoh. Talk about being literal."

"So it would seem."

"I wonder what makes them like those jokes so much."

"Heh! Gotta be the punk's scream!"

"Heh! The diehard rascal's roar!"

"So it'd seem things will get quiet at last. Fine. Time to shine."

"Oi, oi. Not another fancy mood, Meiru – chan!"

"Huff… Math… Endless math…!"

"Guts, guts! 6 per 6 is 66!"

"Wrong…!"

"He cannot do proper math...! Someone save our sanity!"

"Don't worry, Gliding Man! I've got it covered by the Yaita Insurance!"

"What is that supposed to be…? I give up."

"Desu?"

The Akihara Middle Students, the Cyber CID, Forte, Serenade and Dr. Cossack (through radio) were chatting amongst them as they ate in a pizzeria: all of the Navis were inside of their respective PETs.

"It's good to see Raito getting along with all of them." Masuyama commented from a nearby table where he was sitting with Yuuichirou and Haruka.

"Indeed!" Haruka replied.

"It kindles one's heart." Yuuichirou approved of it.

"Wait! Uncle Grin will face Uncle Snicker!" Oda laughed.

"How original, sir." Saito drily muttered.

"Good one!" Netto encouraged.

"And Aunt Secret will face Aunt Gossip!"

"My. Reminds me of my middle school times…" Haruka giggled.

"Really?" Yuuichirou was surprised.

"Is he really a _Superintendent_?" Raito asked Leon in a whisper.

"He is. He is very competent when he gets serious."

"Ah. I see."

"And I tell ya THIS! I am a loomin' comin' jumpin' jerk!" Napalm Man told Punk.

"Hah! Then I'm a bouncin' kickin' beatin' rascal!" Punk came up with his own rhymes.

"Let's patent 'em!"

"Sure thing!"

"Too hyperactive." Meijin muttered as he drank some water.

"By the way… Hikari. Don't forget to tell Kage to show up one weekend so that I can polish up my skill." Enzan told Netto.

"Sure. I'm sure the guy will look forward to it." Netto replied with a grin.

"Lord Serenade: do thou desire something?" Yamato Man suddenly showed up there.

"I do not remember calling for you." Serenade frowned.

"I know, my Lord! But I felt that maybe…"

"Fine. If that is your will then let it guide you. I would appreciate if you tried to be discrete and not try to lecture others, though." Serenade instructed.

"Thou Will!" He replied.

He marched some meters away and sat down on a spot while forming a transparent blue dome around him: he crossed his legs and lowered his hands to close them his spear lied atop his hips: he seemed to meditate.

"Guess it isolates all noise." Forte guessed.

"Interesting…" Dr. Cossack sounded interested.

"… I think that one of the ladies on my classroom has taken too much of a liking of me, _senpai_…" Raito was whispering to Leon.

"Hum… I'm not sure what to do in that case. Wait and see. If they get annoying you can complain to a teacher." Leon whispered back.

"My, my. Girl trouble?" Meiru (sitting across) grinned.

"Chut!" Netto (sitting to her left) scolded.

"What?"

"It doesn't involve us and please don't make fun of it. We came here to have a fun time, remember." He whispered.

"Alright. Just saying." She dropped the matter.

"Phew." Roll sighed in relief.

"By the way, Yaito – chan. Can your defenses bark?"

"My defenses? My security systems? Bark? No. Why?" She asked, perplexed by the answer.

"It might be more effective to draw intruders away." She suggested with a giggle.

"Hey… Isn't that copying Hikari – kun's alarm doghouse?" Yaito rolled her eyes.

"Guess that. Guess the maker will complain."

"Oh come on. If I make something of a different shape or simply hide speakers in the bushes then that should do it."

"By the way! Hikawa – kun. Did you go surfing?" She suddenly asked him.

"Surfing? Me? No, never. Why?"

"Maybe it's your true passion?"

"Hard to say if I've never tried it."

"Maybe you should try before it turns colder?"

"Maybe. If there's time for that, though."

"Yeah. If there's it. And then you could invite me as public." She added with a smile.

"W-w-well…" He blushed and looked elsewhere.

"Oh my. I'm not enough of a beauty?"

"T-t-that's not it, b-b-but…!"

"Oh come on. Meiru – chan! Stop teasing him, please. You're making him feel nervous." Haruka called out.

"Ah! Y-yes, ma'am." She gulped.

"Phew."

"Why the rush?" Roll asked.

"Well… Why, indeed?" She wondered as if she hadn't stopped to think about it.

"Maybe Ms. Rush is at work. With her lil rushes." Oda laughed.

"Why. That wouldn't surprise me. Tee, heh, heh." She giggled.

"Another reason I can't understand girls." Netto muttered.

"You're not the only one." Saito shrugged.

"Guess that."

"And then…! Uncle Catastrophe met Uncle Catastrophic! And thus the C &amp; C Company began!" Oda joked.

"C &amp; C Company? The CCC?" Dr. Cossack wondered.

"Yessir! Catastrophe Catastrophic Company!"

"Too long." Enzan rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Yes, sir. Too long, sir."

"Don't worry! _Imagine~_!" He began to sing.

"Reminds me of that cruise…" Enzan muttered.

"Of course it does." Netto shrugged.

"And then! The crash and slash attacked!" Napalm Man told Punk while laughing.

"That's nothing! The fella and the non-fella countered!"

"Alfred again?" Meijin sighed.

"Guts, guts. Wizards came in the year 666 BCE, de guts."

"No way…!" Dekao groaned.

"No way, desu."

"Guts, guts. My ancestors say that the hidden truth is that 6 per 6 is 66, de guts." Guts Man kept on quoting.

"Yeah. Says the guy who never passed math." Enzan sighed.

"How do you know that?" Dekao asked.

"Who else would bother to come up with that stupidity?"

"Huh… Good point."

"Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen. You only need Oda… _Hours d'oeuvre_…" Oda chuckled.

"How brilliant." Obihiro rolled his eyes.

"Now, now! Here's a joke! "Mom! Dad! I want to go see _Dr. Zhivago_!"… "No, son. You'll go to the public sanity like the rest of us."…"

"Ah. The father thought it was a medic." Dr. Cossack chuckled at the joke.

"I see." Obihiro looked slightly surprised.

"And then… The flying and rolling gorillas descended!"

"Donkey Kong's cousins!" Dekao laughed.

"Indeed! His blessed cousins from Guatemala!"

"They get along, huh." Enzan muttered.

"So it'd seem." Blues muttered as well.

"And Obihiro – kun over here is the manager of the Oda to Oda blog: all about the oaths and the classic music!" Oda smiled at him.

"Yes, yes. That's what you'd like, sir." He rolled his eyes.

"Maybe we need a blog about home cooking recipes?" Haruka suggested.

"Or about the importance of jogging." Masuyama laughed.

"Or about… Not letting work absorb you." Yuucihirou rolled his eyes.

"Papa… I think you're not the best suited for that…" Netto muttered.

"Don't mind it, Netto – kun. Papa will be Papa."

_What's picking me is that guy who showed up yesterday… But Slur said we should keep quiet about it and that it's not the enemy…_

_If she says that and Oriol also says that then that's gotta be it. We should focus on keeping the party cherry._

Netto calmly nodded in agreement while Saito winked him an eye: Enzan spotted the exchange and seemed to get amused given his grin: he directed it to Blues, who also formed a smile.

"Alright! Let's toast!" Netto suggested.

"Great idea! And let's ask that waited to take a photo too!" Haruka suggested next.

"To stability!" Oda stood up.

The row facing the wall turned their chairs and they made sure to space them so that the row facing forward would also show up in the photo: one waiter began to take aim with a pocket digital camera: another two brought a couple of champagne bottles: Meiru directed a grin at Dekao as it to tell him to try to make a decent face for the photo: Dekao gulped and grinned as he looked at the camera.

"Just a minute…" The waiter muttered.

"My. Champagne." Masuyama chuckled.

"Chan-pai-ne!" Oda made up a joke, as usual.

"How funny…" Raito and Leon muttered, slightly amused.

"Heh, heh!" The twins chuckled.

"Alright! Please look here!"

"Stability!"

"CHEERS!"

Everyone toasted and laughed…

23:58 PM (Bangkok Time)…

"… Code-name: Refraction. Opening secure communications channel to Science Head Quarters Section X. Commander Distortion. Operational password: a ripple may generate a wave."

"All data is valid. You are authorized to report."

"Reply acknowledged. I have an urgent status update."

"What is it?"

The white figure of the other day was standing on a cliff overlooking a city somewhere: one of the city's buildings had the Thailand flag fluttering atop it.

"Lord XY detected my presence yesterday. And I was seen by others as well. I could leave the scene through the emergency unit use but fact remains that my presence is now known. Some fragments of my camouflaging cloth fell off and they must be analyzed by now. So they must know." He calmly reported.

"… I see. We knew it would eventually happen yet… You did well. It would seem we were too risky. Your mission insofar is a success, Refraction. Now we must change some parts of it. For now… Use the inhabited colony as refuge. Cancel all attempts to continue observation. They will be looking for you. And we do not want those persons to get the wrong idea about your presence on the area." The man called Distortion ordered.

"Message received and acknowledged. Communications channel closing as of now… Code-name: Refraction entering Operational Phase."

The man stopped transmitting and lowered the hood to reveal they had long abundant white hair, were on their late 20s or early 30s, lacked facial hair and had golden eye irises: their gaze was calm and collected: they were scanning the horizon and then looked up at the Moon.

_Through my mission I think I grasped why they chose this _world_… I will help them protect it… I am Refraction, and I am your ally... I am… Light! _

**THE END**


End file.
